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Criminals  of  Chicago 


By 
PRINCE  IMMANUEL  OF  JERUSALEM 


Boston 
The  Roxburgh  Publishing  Company,  Inc. 


Copyright,  1921 

By  PRINCE  IMMANUEL  OF  JERUSALEM 
All  Rights  Reserved 


364 

Z-wt  6 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Foreword 9 

I.    Tentacles  of  the  Traffic 25 

II.    Madame  Coupler 43 

III.    May  Misogamy 60 

iy.    Opium  Ophidia 81 

V.    Jambon  Eugenicised  97 

VI.    Petromortis  117 

VII.    Calls'  Cradle  138 

VIII.    Innocent  Infanticide 158 

IX.    Rattler,  the  Fixer 178 

X.    Waginsky,  the  Wittol 196 

XI.    Steel's  Strappado 214 

XII.  Pureheart's  Putrefaction  .      .  236 


FOREWORD 

About  two  years  after  I  had  written 
"Criminals  of  Chicago,"  I  was  given  a  copy 
of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Judicature 
Society  which  contained  "A  Description  of 
the  Work  of  the  Psychopathic  Laboratory 
of  the  Municipal  Court  of  Chicago."  I  was 
not  surprised,  but  highly  gratified  to  find 
that  the  methods  I  recommended  in  my 
story  and  which  I  advocated  thirty  years 
ago  in  "The  Modern  Bible,"  are  being 
adopted  by  leading  criminologists. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  prefacing  my  story 
with  numerous  quotations  from  the  above 
article,  as  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  pub- 
lishers would  welcome  every  medium  that 
gave  greater  publicity  to  this  reform. 

The  attention  of  the  public  has  been 
drawn  to  the  cases  that  come  before  our 
courts,  but  just  at  the  present  time  we 
have  a  type  of  dementia  praecox  that  is 
a  greater  menace  to  us  than  the  so-called 
criminal  class.  These  are  the  morons,  fe- 
male as  well  as  male,  to  whom  the  methods 
of  segregation  advocated  by  the  Psycho- 
pathic Laboratory  might  well  be  applied. 

This  turning  of  the  searchlight  of  public 
opinion  to  questions  that  are  usually  for- 
bidden the  ordinary  channels  of  publicity 


10  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

is  therefore  doubly  fitting  at  the  present 
time. 

Thousands  of  doctors  have  become  con- 
vinced of  the  fundamental  soundness  of 
this  new  field  of  science;  thousands  of 
officers  have  come  to  look  upon  it  as  a 
dependable  and  practical  resource;  proba- 
bly many  lawyers,  serving  as  judge  advo- 
cates, will  come  to  see  and  understand  the 
intimate  relationship  of  mental  defective- 
ness  and  delinquency  through  studying  the 
records  of  courts  martial. 

All  over  the  land  there  is  skepticism  and 
a  sense  of  futility  with  respect  to  the  way 
the  law  deals  with  delinquency.  With  more 
machinery  for  convicting  and  punishing 
the  law-breaker  than  ever  before,  we  find 
the  supply  increasing  in  a  rising  curve. 
Everywhere  there  is  a  feeling  that  some- 
thing is  amiss,  but  there  is  little  agree- 
ment as  to  the  causes  and  the  correct 
remedies.  Judges  are  blamed  by  some  for 
being  too  lenient  and  by  others  for  being 
too  severe. 

The  thing  which  baffles  us  most  is  the 
marked  tendency  for  delinquents  to  drift 
back  to  the  jails  after  correctional  treat- 
ment, so  that  the  same  names  figure  again 
and  again  in  the  police  records,  in  the 
criminal  courts  and  in  various  penal  and 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  11 

reform  institutions.  The  reform  school 
has  been  supplemented  by  the  juvenile 
court,  with  a  marked  improvement  in  sal- 
vaging youth;  but  we  have  by  no  means 
got  rid  of  the  repeater,  or  recidivist. 

The  old  idea  that  punishment  is  deter- 
rent in  proportion  as  it  is  severe,  or  even 
brutal,  is  nearly  obsolete.  History  shows 
that  hanging  did  not  prevent  petit  larceny. 
So  we  have  abandoned  the  policy  of  fright- 
fulness  in  punishment  and  cannot  revert 
to  it  even  though  it  still  has  some  few 
supporters. 

And  yet  we  feel  that  the  theory  of 
punishment  being  deterrent  is  philosophi- 
cally sound.  We  feel  that  potential  crimi- 
nals should  be  deterred  by  dread  of  some 
form  of  punishment.  But  we  observe  that 
in  a  large  class  of  cases  this  theory  does 
not  work.  The  difference  here  between  a 
seemingly  valid  theory  and  actual  practice 
causes  a  great  deal  of  bewilderment. 

The  first  news  from  the  Laboratory  re- 
vealed the  prevalence  of  f  eeble-mindedness 
among  delinquents.  A  layman's  definition 
of  f  eeble-mindedness  may  be  attempted :  it 
is  a  defect  in  intelligence;  a  fairly  definite 
limitation  of  capacity  for  conscious  think- 
ing, for  intellectual  processes.  The  psychi- 
atrist says  that  it  is  a  defect  of  the  cortex, 
that  portion  of  the  brain  which  is  phylo- 


12  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

genetically  newer  than  the  rest  of  the 
brain.  It  is  also  held  that  feeble-minded- 
ness  is  practically  static  and  incurable. 
This  follows  from  the  theory  that  it  is  due 
to  a  brain  lesion,  to  a  physical  injury  or 
malformation. 

When  one  says  that  feeble-mindedness 
is  static,  he  means  that  there  is  no  cure. 
The  individual  will  never  achieve  any 
higher  psychological  level,  no  matter  how 
much  attention  is  given  to  his  education 
or  how  long  he  lives.  However,  he  may 
grow  in  usefulness  through  acquiring  en- 
larged experience.  He  need  not  always 
make  the  same  mistakes  of  judgment. 
Dependent  upon  the  extent  of  the  defec- 
tiveness,  there  is  a  possibility  of  adjusting 
the  individual  to  his  environment  and  of 
making  up  for  his  deficiencies  by  protec- 
tive environment. 

Defectives  of  this  sort,  forced  at  an  early 
age  to  shift  for  themselves,  may  still  wor- 
ry along  through  life  without  serious  con- 
sequences to  society  in  an  easy  environ- 
ment. But  in  the  great  city,  with  its  spurs 
to  appetite  and  its  remorseless  competition, 
the  environment  is  the  worst  possible.  The 
city  cannot  be  made  to  become  a  safe  abode 
for  the  abnormal.  Its  development  is  in 
the  interest  of  the  strong  and  successful. 

So  long  as  the  feeble-minded  delinquent 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  13 

is  not  recognized  as  such  when  he  has  com- 
mitted an  offense,  every  form  of  punish- 
ment is  likely  to  be  but  one  more  step  in  the 
degradation  which  leads  to  hopeless  crimi- 
nality. This  is  the  great  truth  which  ex- 
plains the  frequent  failure  of  the  correc- 
tional institution.  The  institutions  and 
methods  which  have  been  evolved  for  the 
discouragement  of  crime  are  practically  all 
predicated  on  mental  competence  and  re- 
sponsibility;  they  are  based  on  the  former 
universal  conception  that  every  person  not 
imbecile  or  insane  will  react  uniformly  to 
certain  corrective  influences. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  feeble-minded  con- 
stitute a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
body  of  delinquency,  and  this  defect  is 
quite  readily  ascertained  by  a  compara- 
tively simple  method  of  testing.  But  there 
are  common  types  abounding  in  the  jails 
which  are  not  so  readily  detected,  and  still 
less  readily  classified  in  a  quantitative  way. 
For  them  there  are  more  subtle  tests  em- 
ployed only  by  the  neurologist  and  psychi- 
atrist. 

Chief  of  these  types  is  that  known  as 
dementia  praecox.  This  is  a  form  of  mental 
instability  which  may  not  reveal  itself  to 
the  uninitiated.  It  is  a  defect  of  the  basal 
ganglia,  that  part  of  the  brain  which  is  the 


14  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

seat  of  the  emotions  of  affectivity.  It  is 
easier  described  than  defined.  Dr.  Hickson 
is  authority  for  the  statement  that  sixty- 
five  percent  of  the  inmates  of  insane  asy- 
lums are  victims  of  dementia  prsecox,  or 
schizophrenia,  as  he  prefers  to  call  it.  But 
there  are  doubtless  more  cases  of  dementia 
prsecox  outside  of  asylums  than  inside. 

Unlike  feeble-mindedness,  dementia  prse- 
cox does  not  imply  any  lessening  of  intel- 
ligence. It  may  be  associated  with  any 
grade  of  intellectual  power.  There  are 
classical  instances  of  dementia  prsecox 
combined  with  extraordinary  intellect,  and 
this  combination  must  be  understood  to 
account  for  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
cases  of  persons  who  excel  to  an  extraordi- 
nary degree  in  some  special  field,  but  who 
are  known,  nevertheless,  to  be  mentally 
unstable.  They  may  even  have  great  fol- 
lowings  as  leaders  of  religious  movements ; 
they  may  be  successful  inventors;  they 
may  be  masters  of  oratory,  or  distin- 
guished writers,  or  noted  musicians  or 
artists. 

Of  course,  dementia  prsecox  is  sometimes 
coupled  with  average  intelligence.  Con- 
sider this  not  uncommon  type.  The  indi- 
vidual differs  mostly  from  the  normal, 
perhaps,  in  the  one  characteristic  of  "split 
associations."  He  does  not  arrive  at  the 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  15 

same  conclusions  as  the  normal  from  given 
data.  Since  it  is  the  affective  center  which 
is  abnormal,  he  is  likely  to  have  a  different 
view  of  moral  questions  than  the  normal. 
Not  infrequently  he  is  entirely  amoral. 
There  are  enough  such  to  constitute  a  class 
by  themselves.  As  well  try  to  teach  kittens 
to  swim  as  to  reform  the  moral  defect 
afflicted  with  dementia  praecox.  He  is  or- 
ganically wrong,  and  nothing  can  make 
him  right. 

Again,  speaking  generally,  the  victims 
of  this  defect  are  commonly  in  conflict  with 
their  surroundings.  This  does  not  stop 
with  mere  failure  to  fit  the  environment, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  feeble-minded.  No 
environment  can  be  imagined  which  will  fit 
them.  Their  springs  of  conduct  are  ab- 
normal. They  may  be  energetic,  persistent, 
persuasive  in  a  degree,  but  their  conclu- 
sions are  fallacious,  especially  in  the  sub- 
jective field. 

The  victim  of  both  psychoses,  in  the 
language  of  Dr.  Hickson,  appears  to  be 
"the  criminal  type  par  excellence." 

A  perfect  continuity  of  data  is  observ- 
able between  dementia  prsecox  combined 
with  feeble-mindedness  and  such  crimes 
as  robbery,  with  its  incidental  homicide, 
rape  and  other  sex  crimes.  These  are  the 


16  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

crimes  which  are  most  revolting  to  the 
moral  sense;  they  are  also  the  least  profit- 
able to  the  criminal.  The  records  show 
that  the  typical  "hold-up-man"  in  Chicago 
is  a  boy  between  the  ages  of  seventeen 
and  twenty-one.  He  often  appears  to  be 
quite  fearless.  While  some  cunning  may 
be  displayed  in  certain  instances,  for  the 
most  part  there  is  a  pitiful  lack  of  ordinary 
precaution.  Detection  and  arrest  is  usual- 
ly not  difficult.  These  crimes  are  planned 
with  absolute  disregard  for  decency.  They 
are  often  executed  with  the  most  ruthless 
brutality.  Mutilation  of  the  criminal  vic- 
tim is  often  a  mark  of  this  type. 

When  the  story  of  dementia  praecox  is 
finally  written,  it  will  be  seen  to  have  been 
at  the  bottom  or  potential  to,  not  only  the 
criminal  situation,  but  also  to  much  of  our 
civil,  commercial  and  social  disturbances. 

Its  victims  profess  the  deepest  feelings 
of  remorse  for  a  delict  and  at  the  same 
instant  are  deliberating  a  similar  or  other 
offense.  As  is  obvious,  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence who  their  victims  are,  friends,  rela- 
tives or  strangers,  there  is  an  absolute 
ethical  frigidity.  They  possess  a  very 
ready  comprehension,  but  their  reasoning 
is  ofttimes  erratic  through  influence  of 
their  complexes. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  17 

Their  offenses  consist  chiefly  in  confi- 
dence games,  swindling,  every  known  art 
of  juggling  with  checks,  much  less  often 
the  ordinary  grand  and  petit  larceny.  They 
show  a  fondness  for  carousing  with  the 
opposite  sex.  Those  that  marry  are  al- 
most always  sooner  or  later  divorced.  They 
often  commit  bigamy.  Alcoholism  often 
complicates  the  picture.  They  are  fablers 
of  the  worst  type,  all  the  way  from  delib- 
erate fabrication  to  pseudologia  phantas- 
tica,  and  always  directly  or  indirectly  to 
their  positive  advantage,  whereas  with  the 
ordinary  case  of  pseudologia  phantastica 
it  may  be  directly  or  indirectly  to  their 
disadvantage,  though  even  here  in  some 
instances,  it  begets  sympathy.  They  tend 
to  be  foppish.  They  are  commonly  known 
as  the  black  sheep  of  the  family.  They 
are  immune  to  every  art  of  reform  from 
exhortation  to  prison,  and  being  devoid  of 
insight  through  lack  of  complemental  feel- 
ing-tone consider  such  censure  as  gratui- 
tous and  unjust. 

In  spite  of  all  this  they  possess  the  most 
ingratiating  personality  imaginable,  which 
is  their  chief  stock  in  trade,  and  which  is 
often  the  means  of  saving  them  from  sen- 
tence to  prison,  which  they  are  most  re- 
sourceful in  circumventing,  though  most 
all  sooner  or  later  land  there,  but  usually 


18  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

not  until  they  have  succeeded  in  bringing 
their  friends  and  relatives  to  financial  ruin 
in  keeping  them'  out.  There  is  no  class  of 
delinquents  who  succeed  in  getting  as 
many  tryouts  as  they  do.  There  are,  of 
course,  lighter  forms,  but  the  type  is  well- 
defined  and  easily  recognizable  wherever 
encountered,  be  it  in  pulpit,  politics  or 
business. 

The  dementia  prsecox  question  is  one  of 
the  most  portentous  socially,  economically 
and  criminally  that  civilization  has  to  deal 
with.  It  is  not  only  responsible  for  much 
of  the  work  of  the  criminal  branches  of 
our  courts,  but  also  for  a  great  deal  of 
that  in  our  civil  branches.  It  is  responsible 
for  a  goodly  number  of  divorces;  many  of 
the  divorces  coming  before  the  courts  of 
Cook  County  have  already  been  in  one  of 
the  specialized  branches  of  the  Municipal 
Court,  chiefly  the  Domestic  Relations 
branch.  We  get  numerous  requests  to  go 
to  other  courts  to  testify  in  divorce  and 
other  civil  cases  on  the  results  of  examina- 
tions made  on  one  or  the  other  or  both 
parties,  in  some  instances  on  examinations 
made  as  much  as  three  years  previously. 

The  army  and  navy  have  their  hands 
full  with  their  prsecox  cases,  not  always 
recognized  as  such. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  19 

Environment  is  man-made,  made  by 
dominants  for  dominants,  with  little  con- 
sideration for  the  recessives  who  are  rep- 
resented in  the  population  numerically  at 
about  two  percent,  but  in  the  matter  of 
cost  in  taxes  at  anywhere  from  twenty- 
five  to  fifty  percent,  which  only  covers  the 
public  institutions  for  the  insane  and 
feeble-minded.  It  is  hard  to  estimate  their 
cost  in  indirect  taxation  such  as  the  police 
and  detective  forces,  courts,  prisons,  jails, 
reformatories,  the  various  eleemosynary 
institutions,  etc.  Then  there  is  their  waste 
and  damage  industrially  and  elsewhere, 
and  the  general  friction  and  disorder  and 
accidents  for  which  they  are  responsible. 
Environment  being  man-made,  by  domi- 
nants for  dominants,  and  consequently 
fitting  them,  gives  them  a  relative  degree 
of  freedom  which  is  denied  the  recessives 
on  whom  it  exerts  restrictions,  whom  it 
relatively  determines. 

The  only  practical  solution  we  see  at 
present  for  the  treatment  of  these  cases 
after  they  are  recognized  is  farm  and 
industrial  colonies,  community  centers  in 
the  country,  as  extensive  as  possible,  built 
on  the  order  of  detention  camps.  Such 
colonies  should  be  laid  out  in  the  order  of 
a  small  model  community,  with  adminis- 
tration building,  and  cottages  for  the  ex- 


20  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

ecutives  and  inmates,  with  its  industrial, 
farm,  amusement,  hospital,  living  and 
other  sections.  They  can  be  laid  out  and 
built  up  gradually  by  the  inmates  them- 
selves after  the  first  buildings  are  com- 
pleted. 

The  necessity  for  sterilization  before 
parole  will  have  to  be  considered,  though 
the  isolation  of  such  defectives  will  elimi- 
nate the  largest  source  of  propagation  of 
defectiveness  with  its  concomitant  delin- 
quency. 

In  such  colonies  they  will  have  economic 
worth,  while  on  the  outside  they  are  an 
economic  burden.  They  are  responsible 
for  most  of  the  accidents  on  land  and  sea, 
for  wastage,  loss,  theft  and  bad  morale. 
They  are  undependable,  work  irregularly, 
always  changing  employment,  and  they 
make  up  the  bulk  of  the  army  of  the 
unemployed.  The  colony  proposition  is 
logically  a  national  one,  but  under  our 
system  of  government  it  will  have  to  be 
dealt  with  by  the  State.  Such  colonies  will 
be  provided  with  laboratories,  with  brain 
and  other  research,  and  will  thus  indirectly 
contribute  much  to  the  advancement  of 
society. 

It  is  only  a  short  step  after  all,  in  view 
of  the  numerous  institutions  which  we 
now  possess,  to  establish  industrial  farm 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  21 

colonies  for  defective  delinquents.  One  of 
the  great  reasons  for  such  a  step  is  the 
fact  that  these  persons  are  now  spoiling 
the  administration  of  existing  institutions 
where  they  are  kept  with  those  of  normal 
mentality.  We  recognize  the  ghastly 
futility  of  mixing  first  offenders  with 
"hardened  criminals"  in  .our  jails  and 
prisons,  and  have  established  detention 
homes  and  other  means  for  segregating 
these  classes.  But  in  doing  so  we  have 
made  just  as  great  a  blunder  by  herding 
together  the  degenerate  boys  with  the 
normal  and  redeemable  boys,  and  degene- 
rate girls  and  women  with  the  girls  and 
women  who  are  of  normal  mentality.  Re- 
ports from  such  institutions,  disclosing  the 
shocking  perversions  which  are  there 
rampant,  illustrate  most  emphatically  the 
need  for  segregation  based  on  psychopa- 
thological  differentiation. 

But  the  biggest  element  of  the  entire 
subject  remains  to  be  considered.  It  is 
that  psychopathology  will  assist  the  court 
to  be  what  courts  should  be,  and  must  be 
— preventive  of  crime.  The  place  of  the 
Laboratory  especially  is  to  pick  out  the 
defective  at  an  early  stage  and  put  him 
where  he  cannot  again  fail.  Eventually 
the  most  useful  field  for  the  Laboratory 
will  be  among  juveniles,  and  it  will  co- 


22  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

operate  with  psychopathology  in  the  public 
schools.  There  is  room  here  only  to  hint 
at  the  usefulness  of  science  in  solving  the 
hardest  problems  of  education,  for  our 
schools  have  been  laboring  and  groaning 
under  the  burden  of  defectiveness,  where- 
by five  percent  or  less  of  the  pupils  hold 
back  all  the  rest  and  impose  a  great  cost 
on  the  school  systems.  The  schools  have 
their  problem  of  repeaters  quite  as  much 
as  the  prisons. 

Dr.  Hickson  discusses  this  preventive 
side  of  psychopathology  and  sees  its  great- 
est future  here.  When  the  potential  crimi- 
nal can  be  diagnosed  with  certainty  before 
any  serious  offense  has  been  committed, 
and  given  such  treatment  that  the  best 
that  is  in  him  will  be  developed  and  the 
worst  kept  under  check,  the  courts  will 
become  what  they  should  be,  preventive  of 
crime.  It  is  prevention,  in  fact,  that  we 
are  determinedly  seeking.  Cure  comes  too 
late.  This  discloses  a  noble  aim  and  one 
not  too  remote  by  any  means. 

This  is  the  best  answer  to  the  person 
who  instinctively  fights  the  proposal  to 
subject  to  mental  investigation  the  "brute" 
who  has  committed  some  shocking  crime. 
That  objector  says:  "Death  is  none  too 
good  for  such  a  wretch,  whether  crazy  or 
not!" 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  23 

The  student  of  the  new  science  replies: 
"The  fate  of  this  one  criminal  is  of  little 
consequence.  Hang  him,  if  you  will,  but 
next  month  and  next  year  there  will  be 
other  murders  committed  just  as  brutal. 
The  purpose  of  psychopathology  is  to 
determine  in  advance  these  enemies  of 
society  and  shut  them  up  before  they  have 
killed." 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 


TENTACLES  OF  THE  TRAFFIC. 

We  are  in  a  typical  Chicago  block.  In 
the  center  is  a  chintzed  chop  suey,  flanked 
on  the  right  by  a  Chinese  laundry,  on  the 
left  by  a  draught-  and  drug-store,  which 
in  addition  to  legitimate  pharmacy  also  dis- 
penses candy  and  ice-cream  to  the  boys 
and  girls  that  attend  the  high  school  in 
the  rear  block,  sells  postage  stamps  and 
juvenile  cigarettes,  and  degenerates  less 
from  sesculapian  aesthetics  by  activities 
evidenced  in  the  installation  of  a  telephone 
booth.  Its  windows  are  variegated  with 
a  display  of  douches,  suspensories,  electric 
belts  to  regenerate  lost  vitality,  and  a 
patent  drug  bearing  the  trade-mark  of  a 
ram's  head  and  guaranteed  to  impart  the 
energies  of  the  emblem,  and  other  fitting 
exhibits  for  the  neighborhood  of  a  high 
school.  (Some  of  my  friends,  evidently 
more  concerned  for  Mrs.  Grundy  than  they 
are  for  the  millions  of  Chicago  shoppers 
and  children,  have  anxiously  suggested  that 
no  paper  will  publish  this  description  of  a 
Chicago  drug-store  window,  however  typi- 


26  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

cal.  If  the  picture  is  so  Paphian,  how 
much  more  Fescennine  must  be  the  origi- 
nal which  I  desire  to  have  repressed  by 
this  realism?) 

Before  and  after  school  hours  the  tele- 
phone booth  is  filled  with  a  bevy  of  boiste- 
rous and  slangous  girls  who  take  full 
advantage  of  the  fact  that,  although  the 
uninitiated  are  compelled  to  drop  a  nickel 
into  the  slot,  esoterics  are  allowed  free 
calls.  Many  of  these  gargoylous  girls  on 
their  way  home  drop  into  the  laundry,  not 
always  to  emerge  with  a  cardboard  box  of 
linen,  and  it  is  remarkable  how  the  jaun- 
diced dhobi  finds  time  to  entertain  these 
palefaces,  while  he  carefully  notates  their 
addresses,  phone  numbers,  and  every  item 
of  family  history  that  they  ingenuously 
impart. 

Adjoining  the  laundry  is  a  garage,  at 
the  left  corner  a  saloon,  condemned  as  all 
of  that  ilk  by  its  architectural  devices  for 
latitation;  at  the  other  corner  a  movie 
theatre  more  kinematic  in  its  throng  than 
on  its  screen. 

Above  Richard  Rattler's  saloon  and 
Wago  Waginsky's  drug-store  are  several 
halls  usually  let  for  dances,  weddings,  and 
secret  society  functions;  over  Fujii  are 
furnished  rooms  managed  by  Madame 
Coupler ;  Ching  Wo  Po  is  superimposed  by 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  27 

Professor  Gulliver,  a  famous  medium; 
Sister  Innocent,  a  much  demanded  mid- 
wife, looks  down  upon  Steve  Speedway, 
the  proprietor  of  the  garage;  and  next  to 
her  are  the  offices  of  Dr.  Pureheart,  spe- 
cialist for  female  ailments  and  obstetrics. 

These  varous  establishments  are  heated 
by  steam  from  a  basement  to  which  they 
all  have  access,  and  intercommunication  is 
further  facilitated  by  a  balcony  that  runs 
the  whole  length  of  the  second  floors. 

The  back  half  of  the  block,  surrounded 
by  a  wooden  fence  and  gates  usually  ajar, 
faces  the  high  school,  serves  as  a  short 
cut  from  the  school  to  the  back  entrance 
of  Waginsky's,  an  emergency  exit  from  the 
movies,  and  not  seldom  as  a  convenient 
approach  to  the  vennel  behind  Rattler  and 
Fujii.  This  vacant  plot,  dump  of  lumber 
and  barrels,  is  the  modern  arena  and  grove 
of  crap  gladiators  in  school  recess,  and  of 
Eleusinian  mysteries  during  the  movie 
intervals. 

The  oracle  in  charge  of  all  these  acces- 
sories to  civilization,  the  Janus-faced  jani- 
tor, is  Rob  Righteous,  only  inhabitant  of 
the  basement,  regular  communicant, — 
eulogist,  apologist,  and  chucker-out  of  the 
liquid-lambative  landlord,  Richard  Rattler. 

I  passed  along  this  block  one  midnight 
when  suddenly  a  booklet  was  thrust  into 


28  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

my  hand.  I  glanced  casually  at  the  title, 
"Secrets  of  Life  Plainly  Told  For  Men," 
looked  at  the  building,  and  as  my  eyes 
and  ears  and  brain  became  alert,  I  halted. 
I  caught  the  sign  "Dr.  Pureheart,"  and 
remembered  that  this  name  had  lately 
appeared  in  the  Press,  denying  that  any 
immorality  existed  among  high  school 
girls.  I  heard  music  (or  was  it  a  chari- 
vari?) and  dancing  above  the  saloon;  I 
noticed  several  girls  inspecting  Waginsky's 
Malthusian  manikins  for  msenads;  I  saw  a 
painted  demi-mondaine  slide  into  Rattler's. 

Was  I  again  a  student  in  the  Quartier 
Latin  ?  No !  I  saw  a  bright-eyed  child  of 
twelve  seated  with  a  boy  her  own  age  on 
a  garbage  box,  and  the  inscription  was 
English:  "Help  Keep  the  City  Clean." 

The  whimsical  desire  filled  me  to  open 
the  lid  and  drop  that  boy  and  girl  in.  I 
approached  them  and  heard  the  boy  say: 

"Gee,  kid,  there  goes  yer  sister,  May, 
and  her  feller.  Ain't  they  a  goin'  into 
the  chop  suey?" 

I  turned  in  the  direction  indicated  and 
saw  a  beautiful  girl  of  sixteen  just  pass 
into  Fujii's. 

"Yah!  She's  goin'  to  gradyerate  this 
year.  Hi !  kids,  come  right  here.  Did  yer 
see  Charlie  Chaplin?  Ain't  he  jest  cute?" 

Then  it  struck  me  that  the  street  was 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  29 

full  of  boys  and  girls.  Surely,  these 
Americans  are  "crazy,"  thought  I,  to  allow 
their  children  to  run  about  in  this  manner, 
at  this  hour,  and  in  this  neighborhood, 
alone.  In  Europe  they  would  have  been 
put  to  bed  at  9  P.  M.,  and  would  never  at 
any  time  be  allowed  to  roam  about  such 
surroundings  by  themselves.  But  I  thought 
of  Dr.  Pureheart's  asseverations,  and  Dr. 
Pureheart  is  an  honest  man. 

I  turned  to  the  pretty  child  who  appar- 
ently was  there  to  "Help  Keep  the  City 
Clean,"  and  enquired  gently: 

"Why  does  your  mother  allow  you  to 
stay  here  till  midnight?" 

She  looked  at  me  saucily,  and  the  other 
children  gathered  round  and  stared  at  me 
with  amused  curiosity. 

"My  God!  what  a  question!  Why  it 
helps  to  edj create  us!" 

When  I  heard  the  name  of  the  Creator 
taken  in  vain  by  this  child,  I  was  again 
tempted  to  "Help  Keep  the  City  Clean," 
but  I  curbed  my  anger,  and  thought  of  the 
"Mam"  school  in  the  next  block  that  was 
edjercating  these  children  in  this  fashion, 
and  I  turned  into  the  chop  suey. 

"Jesus !"  hooted  a  boy  behind  me,  "ain't 
he  a  guy,  don't  he  look  like  Charlie  Chap- 
lin?" 

And  another  retorted: 


30  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

"No,  he  ain't,  kid.  Christ!  didn't  yer 
see  it's  Buffalo  Bill?" 

May  sat  at  a  table  with  her  feller,  an- 
other woman  and  another  man.  On  this 
occasion  I  did  not  try  to  analyze  the  effect 
my  appearance  made  on  the  spectators,  an 
idiosyncracy  to  which  I  am  often  prone. 
My  physiognomy  and  physique  are  unusual 
and  always  attract  attention.  I  am  five 
feet  two  inches,  have  a  thirty-nine  chest, 
and  weigh  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds, 
so  you  can  well  imagine  that  I  am  too 
Napoleonic  around  the  waist  for  an  active 
abstainer  of  forty.  My  hands  and  feet  are 
tiny  and  delicate  like  those  of  a  lady,  yet 
I  can  walk  fifty  miles  a  day,  and  wring  the 
neck  of  a  giant.  But  it  is  my  tri-colored 
Vandyke  beard  and  heavy  upturned  mus- 
taches, black,  brown,  and  grey,  that  create 
the  cynosure. 

Then  my  olfactory  organ  receives  its 
unmerited  share  of  attention.  A  few  years 
ago  it  was  perfectly  straight.  Now  since 
my  horse  rolled  over  a  precipice  with  me, 
it  is  a  cross  between  a  Semitic  bridge  and 
a  bon  viveur's  nostrils ;  that  is,  the  tip  has 
been  flattened  and  inflated,  and  gives  my 
whilom  Welsh  naze  a  decidedly  aquiline 
caste. 

My  almost  black  hair,  thick,  and  parted 
in  the  middle,  surrounds  the  brow  of  an 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  31 

artist,  sleuth,  seer,  and  student;  and  the 
brown  eyes,  when  they  are  not  inwardly 
brooding  or  staring  far  away  into  other 
realms,  can  laugh  as  a  baby  to  its  mother, 
or  sear  into  your  soul  as  the  Scythe  of 
Time.  The  innocent  love  the  face  in  spite 
of  its  blemish;  the  criminal  instinctively 
recognizes  his  antithesis;  the  nervous, 
careless,  and  inane  woman  betrays  her 
pique  before  the  deliberate,  methodical, 
and  intellectual  male  that  despises  and 
pities  her. 

A  few  words  of  Fujii  in  Japanese,  which 
I  understand  the  least  perfectly  of  a  score 
of  languages,  caused  me  on  this  occasion 
to  synthetize  my  own  impressions.  Fujii 
was  not  a  pure-bred  Jap;  he  was  too  tall 
and  too  fat,  and  reminded  me  more  of  a 
Chinese  carving  of  a  wrestler.  His  voice 
was  low  and  effeminate;  and  as  he  passed 
hither  and  thither  in  his  slippers,  he 
seemed  always  ready  for  a  throw. 

He  approached  me  with  an  almost  super- 
cilious indifference.  I  did  not  give  him  an 
order,  but  looked  him  over  from  head  to 
heel.  Then  I  examined  the  tablecloth. 
Regarding  him  straight  in  the  eye,  I  now 
said  very  quietly: 

"When  you  put  a  clean  cloth  on  the  table, 
I  shall  give  you  an  order." 

He   trembled   as   if  connected   with   a 


32  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

battery,  his  hands  came  on  to  the  table, 
and  the  fingers  twitched ;  but  I  did  not  see 
them,  for  I  was  transfixing  his  murderous 
eyes.  He  wanted  to  spring  at  me,  but  my 
perfect  tranquility  undecided  him.  He 
stepped  backwards  until  he  reached  the 
kitchen  door,  and  pressing  it  open  with  his 
back,  disappeared.  A  waiter  now  emerged 
with  a  clean  tablecloth,  and  I  ordered  an 
American  chop  suey.  Fujii  did  not  re- 
appear that  evening. 

May,  who  was  "goin'  to  gradyerate," 
wore  a  short  white  skirt  that  displayed 
part  of  a  beautiful  calf  above  her  high 
bronzed  shoes  laced  with  white  strings;  a 
transparent  shirt-waist  that  served  only  to 
accentuate  her  chemise  a  jour,  gaping 
when  she  bent  over  her  plate  to  expose  the 
little  that  was  not  entirely  bare.  She  was 
practically  sleeveless,  as  the  gauze  that 
surrounded  her  armpits,  permitted  me  to 
see  that  they  were  clean-shaven.  She  had 
blue  eyes,  and  although  her  hair  was  blond, 
her  brows  were  pencilled  brown  to  increase 
their  apparent  length.  One  kiss-curl  lay 
plastered  to  her  brows,  two  beau-catchers 
to  her  cheeks  in  front  of  her  ears,  and  the 
rest  of  her  hair  rose  in  pyramidal  puffs  for 
at  least  six  inches  above  her  numbskull. 
Her  porous  pachyderm  lay  buried  beneath 
an  avalanche  of  powder,  relieved  under  the 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  33 

beau-catchers  and  on  the  lips  by  a  touch 
of  rouge.  When  she  laughed — and  usually 
her  lips  were  parted — she  disclosed  several 
gold  molars  and  sybaritic  gums.  She  was 
evidently  in  the  habit  of  using  some  cor- 
rosive cathartic,  and  had  ruined  her  skin 
in  her  attempts  to  hide  the  fact  that  her 
red  corpuscles  were  running  to  seed.  Yet 
she  was  beautiful,  healthy,  and  well-devel- 
oped for  a  girl  of  sixteen. 

Her  vis-a-vis,  whom  she  addressed  as 
Calls,  was  almost  similarly  attired  in  pale 
pink,  but  she  was  a  brunette  and  twenty 
years  of  age.  She  had  large,  bright  black 
eyes  surrounded  by  dark  circles,  yet  her 
complexion  was  so  flushed  that  she  did  not 
require  any  heightening  of  carmen  and 
could  barely  tone  it  down  by  constant 
recourse  to  her  chamois.  Her  eyes  were 
further  remarkable  for  the  great  width 
that  separated  them,  a  sure  sign  of  the 
possessor's  vanity  and  imbecility,  in  spite 
of  the  popular  novelist's  characters  to  the 
contrary.  The  great  thinkers  have  never 
had  those  prominent,  deployed  pupils,  con- 
stant thought  beetles  the  brows,  narrows 
the  lids,  coarctates  the  orbs. 

Her  lips  were  loose,  full,  and  displayed 
a  tiny  fold  over  the  upper  teeth  when  she 
laughed.  The  weakness  of  her  character, 
the  voluptuousness  of  her  nature,  immedi- 


34  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

ately  bared  themselves  to  me  when  the 
risible  muscles  came  into  play.  The  dark 
rings  told  me  of  a  constant  drain  and 
insufficient  sleep;  the  erubescent  skin,  of 
alcohol  or  opium  and  excesses. 

I  gathered  from  the  conversation  that 
she  was  a  switch-board  operator. 

May's  feller  was  the  typical  model  of  an 
advertising  placard.  Tall,  attenuated,  de- 
bonair, and  sylphlike;  a  rather  short  nose, 
and  flaxen  pompadour.  His  clothes  were 
of  immaculate  cut  and  the  very  finest 
material,  and  convinced  me,  without  the 
additional  evidence  of  a  first-water  scarf- 
pin  and  ring,  that  he  was  more  used  to 
sipping  a  highball  at  the  club  and  guzzling 
beer  at  a  college  keg  stag  than  to  dining 
at  Fujii's.  His  face  did  not  betray  any 
intellectuality,  but  still  bore  the  flush  of 
an  electric  massage,  as  his  finger  nails,  the 
polish  of  an  expert  manicure. 

They  called  him  Jack  and  Jambon,  and 
snatches  of  talk  led  me  to  believe  that  he 
was  the  son  and  heir  of  a  pork  potentate. 

The  only  strong  character  of  the  party 
was  the  other  man.  I  judged  him  to  be 
a  detective,  and  later  events  proved  my 
surmise  to  be  correct.  Over  six  feet, 
powerful,  massive-jawed,  with  swarthy 
skin,  and  firm,  thin  lips  that  hardly  parted 
when  he  spoke  or  laughed  sardonically. 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  35 

His  voice  was  deep  and  guttural,  and  he 
spoke  in  monosyllables,  as  if  under  con- 
stant restraint.  Across  his  low  forehead, 
almost  in  a  line  with  his  beaked  nose,  ran 
a  red  scar  that  gave  him  a  sinister  ap- 
pearance. 

Calls  loved  him  and  feared  him  as  a  bitch 
her  master,  and  Steel  treated  her  as  a 
master. 

The  meal  over,  the  quartette,  instead  of 
leaving  by  the  front  entrance,  disappeared 
in  the  rear  of  the  chop  suey.  I  waited  a 
few  moments,  and  then  attempted  an  exit 
in  the  same  direction;  but  Fujii,  who  had 
evidently  been  watching  me  from  behind 
his  wicket,  sent  a  waiter  to  tell  me  that  I 
could  not  leave  except  the  way  I  came.  To 
allay  suspicion,  I  said  that  I  desired  to 
wash  my  hands,  and  was  directed  to  the 
lavatory  in  the  basement.  There  I  made 
a  careful  inspection,  but  discovered  nothing 
more  questionable  than  a  steel  door  with 
a  patent  lock. 

I  paid  my  quarter,  and  then  made  the 
tour  of  the  block  as  previously  described. 
Rob  Righteous  espied  me,  and  asked  me 
my  business. 

"I'm  looking  for  a  furnished  room,  but 
I  think  it's  too  late  to  go  and  ask  upstairs. 
You  see,  I  work  in  the  day,  and  I've  got 
to  move  to-morrow,  and  if  I  can't  get  fixed 


36  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

up  to-night,  I'll  be  in  a  pickle.  If  you  can 
help  me,  I'll  make  it  worth  your  while." 

"Ye're  a  forinir,  ain't  ye?" 

"Yes." 

"I  could  see  ye're  a  Frenchy.  [I'm  a 
Welshman,  but  did  not  intend  to  be  the 
goat.]  I  don't  know  as  how  Madame 
Coupler  would  let  ye  have  a  room.  She's 
got  mostly  wimin,  an'  she's  mighty  per- 
tikler,  an'  she  charges  stiff." 

I  passed  him  $2. 

"But  we  can  go  up  an'  see.  Ye  see, 
I  'as  got  charge  o'  this  building,  an'  if  I  put 
in  a  good  word,  she'll  listen  to  me.  Ye 
see,  I'm  a  member  o'  the -church,  an'  I'm 
responsible  for  the  pertiklerness  o'  this 
block,  an'  it's  mighty  pertikler  it  is.  Ye 
never  see  a  drunk  at  Rattler's,  the  cleanest 
saloon  in  Chi.  No  wimin  or  crooks  around 
here  while  Rob  Righteous  has  the  keys." 

We  had  arrived  at  Madame's.  Righteous 
rang  the  bell,  and  a  negro  opened  the  door. 
When  he  saw  Rob,  he  called  to  the  back: 
"It's  Massa  Righteous,  Ma'am,"  and  Rob 
passed  by  him  leaving  me  at  the  door. 

After  several  minutes'  conference,  the 
janitor  returned  and  told  the  negro  to 
show  me  in. 

"When  ye  come  down,  let  me  know  what 
luck  ye've  had.  I  told  Madame  Coupler 
that  ye're  O.  K;  but  she's  got  her  rules 
and  regilashins." 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  37 

I  was  ushered  into  Madame' s  presence, 
a  big,  fat  female  of  forty,  painted,  pow- 
dered, dyed,  and  bejewelled.  As  she  scru- 
tinized me,  I  heard  May's  orgastic  giggle 
in  an  adjoining  room. 

"You  want  a  furnished  room  ?  My  price 
is  $6  a  week.  Is  that  too  high?" 

"Not  if  I  can  get  every  home  comfort." 

The  folds  of  her  face  broke  into  a  laugh, 
and  displayed  her  false  teeth. 

"That  depends  on  what  you  call  home 
comforts." 

"Well,  you  know  what  I  mean.  I  don't 
want  to  stay  in  a  Y.  M.  C.  A." 

"Yes,  I  think  I  understand.  But  where 
are  you  staying  now,  and  what's  your 
business?  I  like  to  know  who  I  let  my 
rooms  to." 

"I'm  a  foreign  correspondent,"  and  I 
named  a  swell  hotel  where  I  was  not  stay- 
ing. 

"And  will  you  please  leave  me  your 
card?" 

"I'm  sorry,  I  haven't  got  my  cards,"  and 
I  rummaged  in  my  pockets,  "but  my  name 
is  I." 

"Well,  Monsieur  High,  I'll  let  you  see 
the  room." 

I  was  shown  into  a  beautifully  furnished 
room,  redolent  with  violet  perfume,  and 
pervaded  by  a  dim  red  light.  On  the  walls 


38  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

were  several  nude  vignettes  which  evident- 
ly had  once  adorned  a  Parisian  boudoir. 
The  chamber  undoubtedly  awoke  my  ar- 
tistic temperament. 

"I'll  take  the  room,  and  bring  my  grips 
to-morrow.  Shall  I  pay  you  now?" 

"Yes,  if  you  don't  mind." 

I  gave  her  six  dollars,  and  went  down- 
stairs to  tell  Rob  Righteous  of  my  good 
fortune. 

"I  tell  ye,  Mr.  Eye,  ye're  mighty  lucky, 
because  she's  mighty  pertikler,  as  I  told 
ye.  But  seeing  that  ye're  a  Frenchy,  an' 
she's  been  in  Parees,  an'  she's  a  bit  softy 
on  yer  countrymen  [this  with  a  wink] ,  she 
took  my  word  for  ye,  an'  took  ye  in." 

"And  I'm  very  thankful  to  you,  I  assure 
you,  and  if  I  am  able  to  do  anything  for 
you,  I'll  be  only  too  pleased,  Mr.  Righteous. 
— By  the  way,  that's  a  nice  name  you  have, 
and  I'm  quite  certain  that  it's  very  appro- 
priate." 

Mr.  Righteous  raised  his  hand  in  right- 
eous modesty. 

"Naw,  naw;  but  ye  see  I'm  a  reglir 
member  o'  the  church,  an'  accordin'ly  I  'as 
got  to  keep  this  block  pertikler,  an'  I  'as 
got  to  be  a  bit  pertikler  myself. — But  ye've 
got  a  funny  name  yeself,  Mr.  Eye." 

"I  expect  my  family  got  that  name  be- 
cause they  all  have  peculiar  eyes.  Just 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  39 

you  take  a  good  look  at  them,  Mr.  Right- 
eous, and  your  own  excellent  judgment  will 
convince  you  of  the  peculiarity.  But  I 
think  we  had  better  go  into  the  hall,  or 
we  shall  have  a  crowd  around  us  in  a 
minute." 

I  took  his  arm,  and  drew  him  into  the 
doorway  before  he  was  able  to  form  any 
judment  of  his  own,  and  as  soon  as  I  got 
him  to  a  recess  where  I  thought  no  one 
would  interrupt  us,  I  looked  full  into  his 
eyes,  and  began  to  exert  my  hypnotic 
powers  over  him* 

"Now  take  a  good  look.  Do  you  see 
those  two  yellow  blotches  in  the  whites? 
Don't  look  at  the  outside  corners  of  the 
eyes,  look  towards  the  nose.  Ah !  That's 
it." 

I  made  several  rapid  passes,  and  Right- 
eous began  to  totter. 

"Well,  those  yellow  blotches  sometimes 
glitter  like  diamonds.  Take  a  good  look, 
but  don't  let  them  dazzle  you." 

His  eyelids  sank  heavily,  and  I  had  him 
under  my  influence. 

I  willed  him  to  descend  the  hall  stairs 
and  unlock  a  heavy  door  in  the  basement. 
We  entered  a  living-room  which,  after  the 
light  was  turned  on,  I  surmised  belonged 
to  Righteous  himself.  I  commanded  him 
then  to  lock  the  door  by  which  we  had 
entered. 


40  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

The  perspiration  was  already  streaming 
from  his  pores,  and  he  was  extremely  pal- 
lid and  weak.  I  therefore  told  him  to  lie 
down  on  the  bed,  sleep  soundly  for  two 
hours,  lose  all  remembrance  of  what  had 
occurred,  and  at  the  words  "Yellow 
Blotches"  to  fall  again  under  my  will. 

I  took  his  keys,  and  determined  to  dis- 
cover whether  any  cryptic  ramifications 
would  give  me  the  clue  to  the  few  Japanese 
words  I  had  caught  from  Fujii. 

Every  drawer,  closet,  and  door  was 
locked  with  a  patent  key  that  was  inserted 
and  turned  in  some  peculiar  fashion.  I  was 
accordingly  compelled  to  take  Righteous 
with  me  to  open  the  doors,  while  I  care- 
fully watched  how  he  manipulated  the 
keys  and  locks.  I  feared  that  he  would 
collapse  at  any  moment,  as  this  was  his 
first  experience  under  hypnotism,  and  I 
had  to  exert  an  almost  lethargizing  lode  to 
make  him  obey  me  and  not  lapse  into 
lipothymy. 

Adjoining  the  living-room  under  Fujii's 
were  his  kitchen  and  bedroom.  To  the 
right,  under  Ching  Wo  Po,  were  the  fur- 
nace and  boiler,  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  basement  by  fireproof  partitions  as 
prescribed  by  city  ordinance,  but  this  salu- 
tary provision  here  served  a  lethiferous 
purpose.  Then,  extended  on  either  side 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  41 

were  coal  bins,  drug-stores,  saloon  cellars, 
heaps  of  wood,  packing-cases,  barrels, 
window  screens,  and  storm  doors.  Under 
the  saloon,  the  chop  suey  and  the  movies 
there  were  walled-off  spaces,  which  I  took 
to  be  lavatories,  and  I  noticed  they  all  had 
heavy  doors  such  as  I  had  seen  in  Fujii's 
lavatory. 

There  was  nothing  suspicious  in  all  this. 
Was  I  mistaken?  I  had  examined  every 
door  in  the  basement  and  had  discovered 
nothing  unusual. 

I  allowed  the  janitor  to  lie  on  the  bed, 
turned  out  the  light,  sat  down  near  him 
and  began  to  think. 

Suddenly  I  heard  a  raucous  voice  almost 
at  my  ear,  and  I  must  admit  that  it  gave 
me  a  shock.  I  dared  not  turn  on  the  light, 
lest  it  should  betray  me. 

I  drew  my  revolver  and  bending  over  the 
janitor  commanded  him  to  tell  me  whence 
the  voice  proceeded. 

"Under  my  bed." 

I  am  not  afraid  of  death,  and  am  con- 
sidered fearless,  yet  at  that  moment  my 
legs  turned  cold  when  I  thought  they  were 
within  reach  of  that  sepulchral  voice. 

I  stepped  back,  in  imitation  of  Fujii,  and, 
pointing  my  weapon  beneath  the  couch,  I 
demanded : 

"Who  are  you?" 


42  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

"It's  the  phone,"  replied  Righteous,  and 
my  heart  gave  a  bound  of  relief. 

I  turned  on  the  light,  ordered  him  to 
rise,  and,  examining  the  bed,  found  that 
it  could  be  swung  back  into  the  wall,  was 
in  fact  a  bed-in-wall.  I  raised  it  and  dis- 
covered the  ends  of  a  wire-tapping  system 
and  a  receiver  within  reach  of  the  occupant 
of  the  couch.  I  put  the  receiver  to  my  ear, 
but  the  voice  had  died  away.  This  dis- 
closure, however,  redoubled  my  suspicions, 
and  I  asked  if  there  were  any  doors  we  had 
not  opened.  The  janitor  hesitated. 

"I  command  you  to  lead  me  to  the  door 
where  you  hide  the  white  slaves." 

The  suggestion  given  in  this  manner 
and  being  veridical,  could  not  be  denied. 

The  back  wall  of  the  basement,  under 
Fujii's,  was  composed  of  unplastered 
bricks.  The  janitor  approached  the  wall, 
drew  out  one  of  the  bricks  that  worked 
on  a  hinge  and  catch,  inserted  a  key,  and 
pushed  open  a  door,  the  face  of  which  was 
covered  with  bricks  exactly  similar  to 
those  which  composed  the  wall. 

Unless  an  inkling  of  its  existence  had 
previously  entered  his  mind,  this  door 
would  have  defied  detection  by  the  most 
astute  sleuth  or  cunning  architect  known 
to  criminal  annals. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  43 


n. 

MADAME  COUPLER. 

The  following  evening  I  brought  my 
grips,  or  at  least  part  of  them,  for  I  ex- 
pected to  have  my  possessions  examined 
during  my  absence. 

While  I  was  busy  unpacking,  Madame 
knocked  at  the  door,  and  after  I  had  asked 
her  to  come  in  and  take  a  seat,  she 
inquired  whether  she  could  be  of  any 
assistance  to  me. 

"I'll  take  the  will  for  the  deed,  as  I  would 
not  dare  to  put  you  to  any  trouble,  even  if 
I  was  not  already  through.  But  don't  go 
away,  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  your  con- 
versation and  company." 

She  offered  me  a  cigarette. 

"I'm  sorry,  I  don't  smoke." 

"0  Lord,  and  I  expect  you  don't  drink 
either?" 

"Now,  don't  mind  me,"  and  I  struck  a 
match;  "smoke  your  cigarette  and  take 
your  drink,  if  it  will  make  you  feel  more 
at  home." 


44  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

While  I  was  holding  the  light  to  her 
cigarette,  she  took  hold  of  my  hand. 

"My,  what  a  small  hand,  just  like  a 
girl's!" 

"What  about  the  drink/'  I  suggested 
evasively,  withdrawing  my  hand  from  a 
caress  that  apathized  me. 

"I  think  I'll  drink  a  bottle  of  stout,"  and 
she  called  to  the  negro  to  bring  her  the 
beverage. 

I  had  purposely  seated  myself  on  the 
davenport  some  distance  from  her,  but  as 
soon  as  she  had  gulped  down  the  malt, 
she  came  over  and  pounced  herself  down 
next  to  me,  and  again  took  my  hand. 

"Don't  be  afraid  of  me,  my  dear;  I  won't 
eat  you,  although  I  should  like  to.  I  think 
I'll  call  you,  mon  ami,  Monsieur  High,  it 
reminds  me  of  gay  Paris." 

At  that  moment  I  could  not  help  think- 
ing of  the  innumerable  men  and  women 
whom  an  inexorable  law  bound  inseparably 
to  a  partner  that  they  loathed  as  I  loathed 
this  female,  and  yet  they  lived  through  it 
all.  Would  it  kiU  me?  No,  though  "they 
that  touch  pitch  will  be  denied."  I  would 
be  a  Jesuit  for  the  nonce.  "The  end  justi- 
fies the  means,"  yet  would  I  not  forget 
that  "Hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions." 
I  became  physically  passive,  though  the 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  45 

lump  in  my  throat  would  not  descend. 
Mentally  the  interaction  was  reversed. 

"Won't  you  tell  me  something  about 
your  other  roomers?" 

"Why,  I  have  my  pensionnaires,  mon 
ami;  and  they'd  all  be  nice  respectable 
girls  if  it  wasn't  for  that  sacre  maquereau, 
Steel.  And  that  reminds  me,  you'd  better 
keep  out  of  sight  while  he's  in  the  house, 
or  he'll  make  me  tell  you  to  quit.  He 
won't  have  any  men  rooming  here  regular- 
ly, as  he  doesn't  want  them  to  see  his  go- 
ings-on, and  then  he's  suspicious  that  some 
one  may  come  here  to  spy  on  him.  But 
he's  pretty  high  up,  and  he'll  take  a  lot 
of  shaking.  But  I'll  let  you  know  when 
he's  here,  and  then  you  can  lie  low." 

"Tell  me  which  is  his  room,  so  that  I 
can  keep  out  of  his  way." 

"When  he's  here,  he  usually  sticks  to 
number  eight." 

"I  noticed  the  room.  It  looks  like  the 
best  in  the  flat,  though  it  is  hidden  away 
from  passers-by.  Was  this  flat  specially 
built  by  him  so  that  he  could  hide  him- 
self in  that  room  ?" 

Madame  laughed. 

"I  don't  know;  but  you're  right.  All 
these  flats  are  built  exactly  the  same,  room 
for  room.  The  doctor  has  his  surgery  in 
his  number  eight,  Sister  Innocent  has  her 


46  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

lying-in  charnber  in  her  number  eight,  and 
the  medium  has  his  seances  in  his  number 
eight." 

I  did  not  allow  Madame  to  notice  how 
much  her  information  interested  me. 

"Don't  you  think  it  would  be  a  good  idea 
to  disguise  myself  ?  I've  got  a  tight-fitting 
black  pulcinella  that  covers  me  entirely 
except  over  the  eyes  and  nostrils.  If  I 
wear  over  this  a  capote  and  rubber  shoes, 
he  would  not  recognize  me,  in  case  he  came 
across  me,  and  I  could  pass  as  a  woman." 

"Geewiz,  that's  an  excellent  idea;  but 
you  don't  know  Steel.  He's  one  of  the 
smartest  tecs  in  Chi,  although  he's  a 
crook." 

"But  I  don't  understand  how  he  can 
order  you  about.  Is  he  the  boss  here?" 

"No,  I'm  the  boss,  I  pay  the  rent;  but 
when  he  gets  drunk — which  is  not  very 
often,  he's  too  fly  for  that — he  makes  me 
give  him  my  honest  earnings,  he  robs  my 
pensionnaires,  and  beats  them  about  and 
puts  them  through  such  pacings  that  I  am 
surprised  one  of  them  has  not  squealed  or 
put  a  knife  into  him  yet.  But  what  can 
I  do?  He  can  put  us  all  behind  the  bars, 
and  if  we  said  anything,  the  judges  would 
not  believe  us,  or  if  they  did,  he's  got  too 
much  pull  to  be  hurt,  or  he'd  get  out  of  it 
by  pleading  that  it  was  part  of  his  scheme 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  47 

to  try  and  find  out  all  about  us.  Besides,  the 
judges  are  no  better  than  he  is;  one  of 
them  comes  here  regularly,  and  knows  that 
Steel  owns  this  block  through  Bloater,  the 
banker.  The  policeman  on  this  beat 
squeezes  us  for  his  share  too.  All  of  us, 
the  saloon,  the  drug-store,  the  chop  suey, 
the  Chinaman,  the  garage,  the  doctor,  the 
midwife,  the  medium,  we  all  pay  Steel 
double  rent,  and  whatever  he  can  rob  us 
of." 

"But  what  does  the  laundry  do  to  get 
into  his  clutches?" 

"They  smoke  opium  in  the  basement, 
they  sell  drink  and  cigarettes  and  dope  to 
boys  and  girls ;  when  they  get  into  trouble, 
they  come  up  to  the  doctor  or  the  midwife 
or  the  medium,  and  he  sends  them  to  the 
doctor  for  a  percentage,  and  the  doctor 
sends  them  to  the  drug-store  for  a  percent- 
age. If  Steel  brings  some  one  up  here,  I 
dare  not  refuse  to  take  them  in.  And  God 
knows  what  they  do  down  in  the  basement ! 
I'm  an  honest  woman,  Cheri,  and  it's  my 
own  fault  that  I'm  here." 

Her  voice  grew  plaintive,  and  the  tears 
began  to  roll  over  her  fat  cheeks. 

"Coupler  is  my  Christian  name,  not  my 
family  name.  My  father  invented  the 
railway-coupler  and  gave  me  this  name  in 
remembrance  of  his  invention." 


48  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"I  see  the  inventive  genius  of  other 
members  of  the  family  runs  in  a  similar 
direction,"  I  hinted  mildly,  but  Madame 
had  become  too  lachrymose  under  the  in- 
fluence of  her  souvenirs,  cigarettes,  suit, 
and  stout  to  notice  my  compatible  com- 
parison. 

"He  left  me  a  pot  of  money.  I  went  to 
Paris  and  Monte  Carlo;  and  here  I  am  to 
be  squeezed  by  that  sacre  maquereau.  No 
wonder  I  can't  get  out  of  this.  And  it's 
the  same  with  my  pensionnaires.  There's 
that  gentle  Yvette.  She  got  a  decent  job 
in  a  department  store.  Steel  heard  it  and 
made  her  quit.  These  tecs  and  police  don't 
want  any  reformed  women  about;  it  cuts 
down  their  pin-money,  and  when  a  woman 
can  earn  a  respectable  living,  she  becomes 
independent  of  her  official  protectors,  and 
one  day  she  may  blab." 

"I  should  like  to  know  Yvette,  you've 
made  me  quite  interested.  Won't  you  give 
me  an  introduction?" 

Madame  was  immediately  on  her  guard. 

"No,  I  won't  give  you  a  knock-down  to 
her.  What  you  want  to  know  her  for? 
Ain't  I  good  enough  for  you?" 

"Now,  now,  you  need  not  get  mad  or 
jealous;  I  only  wanted  to  help  her  get  a 
job  in  some  other  town." 

"Oh,  so  you're  one  of  those  guys  that 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  49 

goes  round  picking  up  fallen  women.  If 
you  think  you  can  try  any  of  those  stunts 
on  Yvette  or  on  any  other  of  my  pension- 
naires,  you  can  quit  right  away,  and  here's 
your  six  dollars.  D'  ye  get  me  ?" 

I  twisted  my  hand  out  of  Madame's 
clasp,  and  seizing  hers  began  to  fondle  it 
in  jiujitsu  fashion. 

"My  God!"  she  screamed,  "let  go  my 
hand,  you're  hurting  me,  you  little  black 
devil!" 

"Madame,"  I  said  composedly,  without 
loosening  my  grasp,  and  giving  her  an- 
other slight  wrench  that  made  her  squirm 
and  turn  pale,  "I  get  you.  If  you  give  me 
back  my  money,  I'll  pack  my  traps  at  once. 
But  I  think  you've  told  me  sufficient  to 
make  things  rather  warm  for  you,  and  I'll 
see  Yvette  just  the  same." 

Madame  had  recourse  to  the  mollifier 
that  wears  away  the  hardest  rock.  The 
tears  trickled  from  her  eyes  in  terror  and 
torture. 

"Please,  Sir,  let  go  my  hand.  I  didn't 
mean  to  insult  you.  If  you  like,  I'll  call 
Yvette  at  once.  Oh,  please,  Sir,  let  go  my 
hand,  or  I'll  faint  or  call  the  boy.  I  really 
didn't  mean  it." 

I  did  not  release  my  grip,  but  I  relaxed 
the  rack. 

"0  my  God!"  she  sighed  in  relief,  "I 


50  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

was  afraid  you  were  going  to  kill  me.  Shall 
I  call  Yvette  ?  Are  you  really  a  reformer, 
or  were  you  only  joking?  If  you  are,  I 
hope  you  won't  ruin  me.  I'm  an  honest 
woman,  and  I  meant  you  no  harm.  I  only 
wanted  you  all  for  myself.  Shall  I  go 
away  now,  Sir?  And  do  you  want  your 
$6?  Please  forgive  me,  Sir.  I  was  only 
a  bit  jealous  and  excited,  and  I  had  too 
much  stout." 

"No,  I  don't  want  my  money  back;  I'll 
stay  on  now.  And  you  may  remain  here, 
if  you  like.  I'm  not  a  reformer,  as  you 
call  it,  and  you  needn't  call  Yvette.  I 
thought  you  wanted  her  to  get  out  of  this, 
and  I  really  wanted  to  do  you  a  favor  by 
helping  her.  You're  not  a  bad  sort,  after 
all;  only  you  get  mad  too  quick.  I'll  be 
your  ami  again,  if  you  like." 

Inwardly  I  determined  to  see  Yvette, 
and  send  her  to  a  friend  of  mine  in  the 
country,  who  was  looking  for  a  French 
lady's  maid.  I  had  often  thought  that  the 
State  showed  its  crass  decrepitude  in 
handling  the  social  evil,  as  it  did  in  every 
other  of  its  activities;  and  among  the  re- 
forms which  I  pondered  for  the  Future 
State  and  which  I  determined  to  experi- 
ment on  myself,  if  I  could  find  funds  and 
friends,  was  a  Magdalene  Moralizer. 

These  women  are  not  criminals  until 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  51 

rendered  so  by_State  compulsion.  Itjsjiot 
the JaiTthey" need,  but  a  Hybrid  between 
a^cpnvent  and  a^fagtorg Here  they  must 
be  employed,  between  religious  exercises, 
in  earning  their  own  living  at  female  voca- 
tions, and  paid  by  the  piece  so  that  they 
may  appreciate  the  rewards  of  individual 
industry. 

Such  a  Magdalene  Moralizer  would, 
therefore,  be  self-supporting,  and  the 
Magdalenes  must  have  the  spending  of 
their  wages,  in  ways  which  their  natures 
no  less  than  those  of  the  virtuous  women 
of  your  time  desire. 

Attached  to  the  Moralizer  must  be  a 
Department  Store,  a  Ball  Room,  and  a 
Theatre,  where  they  may  fritter  away 
their  earnings  in  baubles,  disport  them- 
selves in  decollete  toilettes,  weep  or  laugh 
over  the  latest  movie  star  or  actor  and 
actress  who  will  generously  deign  to  visit 
them;  and  Tea  Parties,  at  which  their 
latest  scandals  may  be  septically  susur- 
rated,  should  not  be  altogether  tabooed. 

But  to  revert  to  Madame.  Her  idyl  was 
as  sudden  in  its  interruption  as  in  its  in- 
ception. My  small,  soft  hands  were  now 
a  repulsion  instead  of  an  attraction.  The 
inflated  nostrils  were  no  longer  to  her  an 
index  of  moral  laxity  but  of  mobile  lungs. 
Of  the  relish  there  remained  only  regard, 
respect,  and  reverence. 


52  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

I  proffered  Madame  my  hand,  as  I 
wished  her  pleasant  dreams,  but  it  re- 
mained unshaken. 

As  soon  as  she  left  me,  with  a  wistful 
look  in  her  moist  eyes,  I  carefully  examined 
the  walls,  the  floor,  the  ceiling1  of  my  room 
to  discover  whether  there  was  any  device 
for  listening  or  spying  on  me.  Then  I 
drew  a  plan  of  the  flat  and  put  in  the 
approximate  measurements  as  I  had  pre- 
viously paced  them.  This  comparatively 
simple  task  completed,  I  donned  my  pul- 
cinella,  capote,  and  rubbers,  and  slipped 
out  of  the  house  unseen  with  a  hand-bag 
which  was  the  only  part  of  my  belongings 
which  would  not  bear  too  close  scrutiny. 

In  the  vacant  half  of  the  block,  I  went 
through  some  perambulating  evolutions 
and  geodetic  calculations  which  finally 
landed  me  under  a  most  fortuitous  forma- 
tion of  lumber,  barrels,  and  boxes.  As  I 
have  previously  remarked,  this  was  the 
resort  of  many  who  had  evidently  utilized 
their  trysting  terms  to  prepare  such  lurk- 
ing lures,  and  those  who  passed  would  not 
have  been  surprised  if  they  had  discovered 
me  here,  neither  would  they  have  intruded 
on  or  betrayed  me,  for  there  is  honor 
among  thieves. 

I  opened  my  bag  and,  choosing  a  drill, 
began  my  Columbian  quest  for  the  anti- 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  53 

podes.  After  an  hour's  patient  toil,  I  in- 
serted my  periscope,  but  was  not  able  to 
sight  even  as  much  as  Columbus  did  on 
a  pitch-black  night  when  his  men,  filled 
with  fear  and  doubt,  threatened  to  return. 

I  attached  my  microphone,  but  neither 
was  this  more  microcoustic  than  my  peri- 
scope, perspicacious. 

Had  I  erred?  Again  I  applied  myself 
to  mensurations,  and  arrived  at  the  same 
Q.  E.  D. 

I  placed  my  ear  anew  at  the  orifice. 
What  was  that?  I  listened  intently,  and 
above  the  beating  of  my  heart  caught  the 
shuffling  of  feet.  Then  the  impatient  ink- 
ling to  glean  another  glance  took  possession 
of  me.  Where  had  my  wits  been?  How 
could  I  expect  to  discern  anything  in  dark- 
ness? When  the  approaching  person 
switched  on  the  light,  my  vision  would  be 
vibrated  as  now  was  undulated  my  audi- 
tion. 

That  I  might  use  both  senses  at  the 
same  time,  I  now  attached  a  dictaphone 
tube  to  the  periscope.  The  human  noises, 
intermingled  with  sounds  of  furniture  and 
utensils,  drew  nearer,  until  suddenly  my 
optic  nerve  was  dazzled  by  a  stream  of 
light. 

When  my  eye  grew  accustomed  to  the 
glare,  I  perceived  with  joy  that  the  crypt 


54  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

I  had  visited  on  the  previous  night  with 
my  mesmerized  manciple  was  now  within 
my  range.  There  were  the  couch,  the 
dresser,  the  bath,  the  electric  cooker,  the 
radiator,  the  exhaust  and  the  indraught 
fans,  the  soft  carpets  decking  the  floor, 
and  every  appurtenance  possible  in  one 
compartment.  No  windows  to  hold  out 
hope,  and  only  one  heavy  steel  door, 
clamped  like  that  of  a  safe,  gave  egress 
to  a  tunnel  and  entrance  to  a  second  vault 
fitted  out  for  another  form  of  hellish 
hospitality. 

But  here  is  the  caretaker  of  these  cata- 
combs, dusting  to  prepare  for  dirt.  I  must 
hurry.  The  vultures  are  preparing  for 
their  prey. 

I  now  took  another  insidious  invention 
out  of  my  bag,  and  tested  its  collapsion. 
The  white  rubber  horn  and  bladder  drum 
flew  open  with  a  slight  snap,  taking  the 
shape  of  a  miniature  phonograph  funnel. 
I  squeezed  it  together  between  my  fingers 
and  tried  it  again.  It  was  a  transmitting 
microphone,  the  fruits  of  my  own  ingenui- 
ty. Withdrawing  the  inner  tube  of  the 
periscope  which  contained  the  prism,  the 
object  and  the  eye-glasses,  I  screwed  the 
trumpet  to  the  end  of  another  tube  and 
slipped  it  down  the  shaft.  Then  I  glued 
my  lips  to  the  pipe  and  shouted  several 
times : 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  55 

"Yellow  Blotches!    Yellow  Blotches!" 

When  I  looked  again,  the  janitor  was 
subservient  to  my  behests. 

"Let  me  into  your  room,  by  the  alley 
entrance  in  the  basement." 

I  carefully  folded  the  transmitter,  and 
laid  it  in  my  bag,  reinserted  the  periscope 
for  future  use,  and,  covering  the  end  with 
a  cap,  hid  it  under  a  layer  of  sand. 

While  Righteous  reposed  in  a  rocker,  I 
visited  the  crypt  and  found  that  the  peri- 
scope projected  about  two  inches  from  the 
ceiling.  This  I  remedied  as  soon  as  I  got 
above  ground. 

Then  I  devoted  my  energies  to  tapping 
the  tappers.  I  had  brought  with  me  several 
coils  of  wire,  similar  to  the  kind  used  here, 
so  that  an  additional  one  strung  in  the 
midst  of  the  dozens  which  circled  the  walls 
might  not  attract  attention.  I  attached 
two,  one  a  tapper,  the  other  a  transmitter. 
These  I  led  out  of  the  basement  through 
an  alley  skylight,  and  left  the  ends  at  the 
bottom  of  a  rain  spout. 

Slipping  off  my  capote  into  the  bag 
which  I  strapped  around  my  shoulders,  for 
it  was  rather  heavy,  I  now  climbed  one  of 
the  balcony  posts  on  to  the  roof,  detached 
my  burden,  and  dropped  down  the  spout 
two  insulated  wires  which  I  connected  up 
on  my  descent. 


56  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

It  was  still  too  early  to  pursue  my  task 
on  the  roof,  so  I  spent  my  time  testily  till 
about  2  A.  M.  in  the  lumber  piles,  watch- 
ing the  backstairs  habitues. 

The  roof  was  French,  or  what  is  more 
commonly  called  curb.  Catherine-wheel 
dormer  windows  faced  the  street,  and  were 
partly  hidden  from  below  by  a  crenelated 
balustrade;  the  back  butted  on  to  the  bal- 
cony roof.  I  pushed  the  ends  of  my  wires 
under  the  tiles  which  lapped  into  the  gut- 
tering, and  then  crawled  over  the  ridge 
piece  to  the  extreme  window.  As  I  ex- 
pected, it  was  nailed  on  the  inside,  as  were 
all  the  others  which  I  tried  in  succession. 
This  did  not  intercept  my  passage  long. 
With  the  steel  wheel  of  my  jack-knife  I 
cut  out  a  pane,  inserted  a  pair  of  pliers, 
and  drew  out  the  two  nails  which  held  the 
frame  in  place.  I  pushed  in  the  window, 
and  wriggled  through  into  the  musty,  cob- 
webbed  loft. 

Before  attempting  a  gingerly-picked 
peregrination  across  joints  and  girders, 
between  queen-posts  and  struts,  I  put  the 
dormer  back  in  position  and  fastened  it 
with  a  hinge  to  the  top  and  with  a  bolt  at 
the  bottom,  so  that  the  wind  might  not 
force  it  open. 

Then  I  went  in  search  of  my  wires, 
somewhat  as  a  Diogenes,  but  with  better 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  57 

success.  It  had  been  my  intention  to  let 
them  down  into  my  closet,  but  since  the 
shattering  of  Madame's  ardent  hopes,  I 
had  a  presentiment  that  my  domiciliary 
dulcitude  would  have  to  be  removed  to 
fields  and  pastures  new,  as  Madame's  dul- 
ciloquy  would  no  doubt  be  transferred  to 
more  appreciative  ears.  My  ears  must  be 
attuned  for  harsher  cacophany. 

I  accordingly  fastened  them  to  one  of 
the  queen-posts,  and  attached  the  micro- 
phones. Would  they  work  ?  I  listened. 
Surely  that  was  Righteous  cussing  most 
unrighteously. 

"I  must  a  been  drunk.  Me  head  feels 
like  a  barrel  o'  booze.  I  wonder  if  I 
cleaned  up  the  dens?  I'll  go  an'  take  a 
squint.  Steel  told  me  Jack's  bringin'  sum 
un,  an'  they're  a  goin'  to  have  a  pipe. 
Blast  me  noddle!" 

Then  I  heard  a  door  slam. 

If  the  one  worked,  I  trusted  the  other 
would,  but  would  put  it  to  the  test  on  some 
other  occasion. 

I  now  took  out  my  tape  measure  and 
went  through  manoeuvres  somewhat  simi- 
lar in  their  purpose  to  those  I  had  per- 
formed on  the  ground,  but  with  more 
precision,  and  on  my  hands  and  knees. 

I  inserted  three  periscopes;  one  into 
Madame's  number  eight;  another  into 


58  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

Sister  Innocent's;  and  the  third  into  Dr. 
Pureheart's.  To  the  latter  I  attached  a 
dictagraph,  for  I  did  not  expect  to  be 
always  able  to  reach  this  whispering  clere- 
story, and  never  in  the  daytime. 

My  scientific  aids  were  now  complete. 
I  had  racked  my  brain  in  search  of  some 
means  to  approach  the  saloon  and  the 
garage,  but  they  were  on  the  ground  floor, 
and  the  basement  beneath  them  was  oc- 
cupied by  liquor  vats  and  petrol  tanks 
respectively,  so  that  at  all  hours  of  the 
night  there  was  the  risk  of  someone  in- 
truding upon  my  criminological  reconnais- 
sance. I  gave  it  up  as  something  beyond 
my  powers. 

When  I  reached  the  parapet,  the  dawn 
was  just  beginning  to  break  across  Lake 
Michigan.  Not  a  cloud  obscured  the  sky, 
and  Venus  greeted  me  with  celestial  can- 
dor, and  filled  my  soul  with  adoration  for 
my  Maker. 

It  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  stood  here  be- 
tween heaven  and  hell.  Over  me  rolled  the 
realms  of  the  blessed ;  above  the  rumble  of 
the  city  I  heard  the  music  of  the  spheres, 
"the  speech  of  angels,"  "like  the  faint,  ex- 
quisite music  of  a  dream";  below  were 
"the  hue  of  dungeons  and  the  scowl  of 
night,"  the  mutterings  and  machinations 
of  Mephistophelian  myrmidons,  the  inha- 
bitants of  Pandemonium. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  59 

I  shuddered. 

My  spirit  wished  to  mount  "the  great 
world's  altar  stairs,  that  slope  through 
darkness  up  to  God,"  but  my  task  was 
here. 

I  sank  to  my  knees  in  prayer,  and  then 
slid  down  to  my  chamber  the  way  I  had 
come. 


60  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 


III. 
MAY  MISOGAMY. 

The  following  day  was  Saturday,  Sa- 
turn's day,  the  festival  of  Saturn.  Thou 
son  of  Crelus  and  Terra,  father  of  Jupiter, 
even  today  thy  Saturnalia  are  celebrated! 
I  say  thy  Saturnalia,  but  was  not  thine  the 
golden  age,  distinguished  for  its  purity, 
integrity,  and  simplicity;  for  the  mildness 
and  wisdom  of  thy  reign?  Then  perish 
the  paradox! 

The  unrestrained  license  of  all  classes 
which  extended  even  to  the  slaves  is  no 
less  rampant  today  than  in  ancient  Rome. 
Saturday  night  is  the  night  of  vice  and 
crime  and  drunkenness;  and  even  the 
virtuous  unchain  their  passions  on  Satur- 
day night,  for  they  can  "rest"  and  recu- 
perate on  Sunday.  If  they  but  knew  that 
their  need  for  this  recuperation  labels  their 
actions,  even  though  licensed,  as  vice! 
And  was  it  a  wise  Providence  that  insti- 
tuted Sunday  to  follow  Saturday  night, 
that  humanity  might  have  an  immediate 
avolation  from  its  sins ;  or  was  it  a  vulpine 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  61 

sept  that  botched  a  Saturday  night  before 
Sunday  in  calculation  of  a  more  easily 
attained  absolution? 

As  soon  as  it  grew  dark  enough,  I 
climbed  to  the  loft,  and  after  an  examina- 
tion of  the  periscopes  and  microphones, 
put  the  dictagraph  to  my  ears. 

I  caught  the  conclusion  of  a  conversation 
that  did  not  interest  me,  then  a  voice  which 
I  soon  after  recognized  as  that  of  Jambon. 

"I  say,  Doc,  May's  got  something  the 
matter  with  her,  and  she's  coming  round 
to  see  you  to-morrow.  It  won't  take  you 
long  to  fix  her  up,  and  she  can  rest  all 
day  at  Innocent's  and  then  Speedway  can 
take  her  home  in  a  machine  at  ten  in  the 
evening,  before  her  people  get  in." 

"Alright;  when's  she  coming?" 

"About  eight  in  the  morning,  and  as  her 
people  are  invited  out  with  the  kids,  she 
can  get  into  bed  before  any  of  them  re- 
turn. On  Monday  morning  she'll  tell  her 
folks  to  ring  you  up,  then  you  can  run 
round  and  tell  them  some  cock-and-bull 
story;  and  I  expect  she'll  be  out  again  in 
a  couple  of  days.  Now,  I  don't  want  you 
to  make  a  mess  of  it.  You'd  better  give 
her  a  sleeping  draught  to  take  home  with 
her  to  keep  her  quiet  till  you  get  there  on 
Monday  morning." 

"It'll  cost  you  five  hundred  dollars." 


62  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"What,  five  hundred  dollars!  You  took 
only  fifty  from  Yvette  a  week  ago." 

"That's  my  business.  You'll  pay  five 
hundred  or  tell  her  to  go  to  some  other 
doctor,  or  you  can  take  her  to  Sister  In- 
nocent," 

"Innocent  would  send  me  round  here, 
and  you  know  it,  you  old  money-grab.  And 
I  can't  speak  to  May;  she  gets  on  my 
nerves.  I'm  tired  of  what  she  calls  her 
eternal  love,  I'll  tell  you  what;  I'll  give 
you  the  five  hundred  if  you  tell  her  to  keep 
away  from  this  block.  I'm  going  to  get 
another  girl,  and  I  don't  want  any  scenes — 
Here's  your  check." 

"Thanks,  I  don't  want  your  check." 

"What's  that,  isn't  my  signature  good 
enough  for  you?" 

"Your  signature's  good  enough  for  fifty 
thousand,  but  I  don't  want  to  cash  any  of 
your  checks.  Bring  it  round  in  bills,  and 
I'll  tell  the  kid  to  hook  on  to  some  other 
guy,  as  soon  as  she  can  stand  it." 

There  was  nothing  else  of  interest  to  my 
eyes  or  ears  here,  I  therefore  slid  down  to 
periscope  number  one.  It  was  Smoke 
Night,  as  the  initiated  called  it.  The  scenes 
and  sounds  which  shook  me  that  night 
must  be  reserved  for  the  following  chapter, 
suffice  that  they  resulted  in  another  person 
accompanying  me  to  Pureheart's  periscope 
at  8  A.  M.  on  Sunday  morning. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  63 

That  night  I  took  a  quick  look  and  turned 
away,  for  the  revolting  operation  was  too 
repulsive  even  for  my  senses  hardened  in 
the  slaughter  and  surgery  of  battlefields. 
There  lay  May  in  the  oblivion  of  the 
scopolamm-morphine  anaesthetic,  popularly 
known  as  "twilight  sleep."  I  commanded 
my  captive  to  look. 

O  God !  If  I  could  then  have  had  all  the 
other  members  of  her  sex  and  age  to  take 
but  a  fleeting  glance  at  that  horrible  Neme- 
sis of  shame  and  sin,  how  many  would  I 
not  have  drawn  back  from  the  brink  of 
the  Stygian  abyss  whence  there  can  be  no 
rescue ! 

Mothers  of  Chicago  daughters,  mis- 
tresses of  Chicago  schools !  It  is  your  duty 
to  warn  the  virginity  entrusted  to  your 
suckling  and  teaching  against  the  inevi- 
table vengeance  of  transgression.  While 
you  bury  your  heads  beneath  the  sand,  the 
violation  of  your  nests  is  consummated. 
The  conspiracy  of  silence,  the  duplicity  of 
denial,  will  not  protect  your  homes.  None 
can  speak  but  the  tongue  of  Dr.  Pureheart, 
and  his  is  the  tongue  of  dementi.  Others 
speak  of  what  they  know  not. 

Civic  guardians  of  Chicago ! When  the 

censors  of  publidlnorals.  fog  detftC*nvR-Q'f 
social  crime,  may  anticipate  a  living  only  — 
during    a    presidential    term,    they    are 


64  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

tempted  to  provide  in  that  brief  spell  for 
the  many  lean  years  that  must  inevitably 
follow.  The  Republican  judge  brow-beats 
the  Democratic  prisoner,  as  the  Democratic 
magistrate  bears  down  the  Republican 
culprit. 

Should  a  man  be  deprived  of  his  work 
because  he  is  honest  and  a  Republican,  or 
should  another  be  entrusted  with  that 
work  because  he  is  a  Democrat  and  dis- 
honest ? 

It  is  a  question  that  is  easily  resolved 
by  upright  men,  civic  guardians  of  Chi- 
cago! 

And  why  are  male  morons  lynched  or 
incarcerated  and  female  morons  given 
heart  balm,  alimony  and  lawyers'  fees  by 
judges  who  often  participate  in  the  pro- 
miscuous embraces  of  these  women?  Be- 
cause the  former  are  the  elemental  out- 
bursts of  the  people's  desire  for  virtue;  the 
latter,  the  cursed  hunger  for  gold  legalized 
at  Springfield,  a  cesspool  of  vice  and  cor- 
ruption. The  judges  and  lawyers  who 
share  in  the  extortions  and  embraces  of/ 
these  women  are  pimps  and  panders,  what-/ 
ever  their  positions  at  the  bar  or  on  the' 
bench.  Without  lawyers'  fees,  such  cases 
of  extortion  would  be  impossible;  women! 
cannot  pay  fees  out  of  their  own  honest  \ 
earnings.  And  without  discriminating) 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  65 

legislation,  a  female  moron  would  be 
stamped  for  what  she  is,  whether  she  wear 
a  wedding  ring  or  an  engagement  ring  or 
not.  These  metal  circlets  are  sought  by 
these  women  merely  as  links  of  evidence 
and  never  convert  her  into  a  virtuous 
fiancee  or  wife.  And  why  are  these  female 
morons  often  congratulated  and  even 
envied  by  members  of  her  own  sex?  Be- 
cause she  got  away  with  it.  Her  rotten 
body  has  been  plated  over  with  gold. 
"Serves  him  right,  and  bravo  for  her!" 
they  cry  enthusiastically.  Because  these 
are  the  ethics  of  the  "Mam"  schools.  Be- 
cause the  same  type  of  politician  that 
wallows  in  prostitution  and  drunkenness  at 
Springfield,  appoints  the  unmarried  school 
mams  to  educate  the  daughters  of  the 
Republic.  What  else  can  you  expect  from 
the  appointees  of  such  hypocrites? 


It  was  Wednesday  night,  the  end  of  my 
first  week,  and  I  took  six  dollars  into 
Madame' s  sitting-room. 

"I've  come  to  pay  you  my  rent  for  next 
week." 

Madame  did  not  hold  out  her  hand  for 
the  proffered  bills. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter?  Why  don't 
you  take  the  money?  Are  you  going  to 


66  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

make  me  a  reduction,  or  don't  you  want 
me  any  longer?" 
Madame  hesitated. 

"I  thought  I  was  going  to  be  your  ami." 

"I'm,  I'm  very  sorry,  Monsieur  High; 

it's  not  my  fault.     I  told  you  about  Steel. 

He's  in  number  eight  now,  and  just  asked 

me  about  you." 

"Why  don't  you  tell  him  I'm  your  ami?" 
"Because  you're  not.  You're  a  very  nice 
man,  and  all  that,  if  you  hadn't  hurt  my 
hand  so,  but  you're  too  much  like  a  father 
confessor.  I  don't  believe  you've  been  the 
ami  of  any  woman.  There's  something 
about  you  that  would  prevent  any  woman 
becoming  too  intimate  with  you.  You're 
like  a  minister,  and  people  have  to  mind 
their  P's  and  Q's  when  they're  speaking 
to  you.  If  you'd  only  smoke  or  drink  like 
other  men,  and  forget  yourself,  you  might 
be  some  woman's  ami;  but  you've  always 
got  your  wits  about  you,  you're  too  clever; 
and  a  woman  would  think  you're  playing 
with  her  or  studying  her,  even  if  you  were 
in  earnest. 

"I  don't  know  why  I'm  telling  you  all 
this.  I  don't  want  you  to  stay  here,  or  at 
least  Steel  doesn't;  but  I  don't  want  you 
to  quit,  and  think  I've  got  something 
against  you.  To  tell  you  the  truth,  you're 
too  good  for  me,  and  I'm  ashamed  of  my- 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  67 

self  when  you're  here,  and  I  think  you 
ought  to  stay  in  a  decent  place.  Now  I've 
told  you  all,  and  you've  got  enough  brains 
to  understand  me." 

Before  I  could  answer  her,  there  was  a 
knock  at  the  door,  and  May  walked  in 
without  waiting  for  an  invitation.  She 
looked  ghostly  pale  and  there  was  a  wild 
look  in  her  eyes. 

"My  God !  May,  what  brought  you  here  ? 
You  look  sick.  I  haven't  seen  you  for  an 
age." 

"Is  Jack  here?" 

"Yes,  he's  with  Steel." 

"I  want  to  see  him  at  once;  I'll  walk 
right  in." 

Then  she  caught  sight  of  me. 

"Meet  Mr.  High,  May." 

"How  d'ye  do,  Mr.  High  ?  Oh  yes !  I've 
noticed  you  in  the  chop  suey.  Please  ex- 
cuse me  now;  I  should  like  to  talk  to  you, 
but  I'm  a  little  upset,  and  want  to  catch 
a  friend." 

"I  trust  I  shall  have  the  honor  on  some 
future  occasion." 

May  slipped  out  of  the  room,  and  as 
Madame  was  about  to  follow,  I  stopped  her 
for  a  moment  and  told  her  that  I  would 
leave  on  the  morrow.  Then  I  hurried  to 
the  roof. 

When  I  attained  my  microphone,  May 


68  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

and  her  feller  were  seething  in  an  acrid 
altercation. 

"You  hadn't  the  nerve  to  tell  me  your- 
self, you  coward,  but  let  another  break  it 
to  me,  when  I  was  almost  dying  through 
your  fault.  Or  perhaps  you  thought  the 
news  would  kill  me,  and  you'd  be  rid  of 
me  forever.  But  I  wouldn't  die  just  to 
spite  you." 

"If  I  wanted  to  get  rid  of  you  that  way, 
I  wouldn't  have  paid  the  doctor  $500  for 
you." 

"For  me  ?  For  yourself,  you  mean,  you 
liar!" 

"You  needn't  call  me  names.  You  know 
it's  not  the  first  five  hundred  I've  spent  on 
you.  Didn't  your  diamonds  cost  me  a 
couple  of  thousand?  Haven't  I  always 
paid  your  bills  downstairs  at  Waginsky's? 
I  took  you  to  all  the  cabarets,  dances, 
theatres,  and  every  other  place  you  fan- 
cied; so  you  can't  say  I  spent  the  money 
for  my  own  pleasure." 

"Yes  it  was,  it  was  for  your  own 
pleasure,  and  I'll  give  you  back  the  dia- 
monds, I  expect  you'll  want  them  for  your 
next  victim.  No,  I  won't  give  them  to 
you ;  I  won't  be  such  a  fool.  It'll  make  you 
buy  some  others,  if  you  want  to  snare  some 
one  else.  And  God  knows,  I've  had  to 
suffer  more  than  those  diamonds  are 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  69 

worth.  I  ought  to  sue  you  for  breach  of 
promise  and  ruining  my  life,  you  cur." 

"If  you've  come  here  to  squeeze  me, 
you'd  better  name  your  price  and  get  done 
with  it." 

"No,  I  didn't  come  to  squeeze  you,  you 
hound,  and  you  know  it.  I'm  not  one  of 
that  sort.  I  came  to  tell  you  what  I 
thought  of  you.  I  didn't  sell  myself  to 
you,  I  loved  you.  A  woman  is  not  like 
you  pigs  who  love  a  score  at  a  time.  No 
sooner  off  with  the  old  than  on  with  the 
new !  I  expect  you've  got  another  already. 
It's  nothing  for  you,  but  for  me  it's  every- 
thing. You  wakened  my  love,  and  now 
you  expect  me  to  live  without  it,  while  you 
do  as  you  please." 

"To  hear  you  talk,  one  might  think 
you've  been  a  faithful  woman  to  me.  And 
Steel  sitting  here  all  the  time.  Perhaps 
Steel  will  console  you." 

The  detective  sat  stolidly  in  his  chair 
as  if  not  interested  in  such  infantile  re- 
criminations. 

May  turned  towards  him,  not  knowing 
whether  to  cast  down  her  eyes  or  stare 
him  out,  but  his  demeanor  turned  the 
balance  in  favor  of  a  brazen  challenge. 

"You  see,  he  doesn't  want  to  return  to 
his  vomit." 

May  wheeled  on  her  heels  and  screamed 
into  his  face: 


70  CRIMINALS   QF   CHICAGO 

"You're  both  a  set  of  scoundrels.  You 
think  I  can't  get  anybody  else;  I'll  show 
you  I  can.  I'm  just  as  good  as  a  man,  and 
if  you  think  you'll  break  my  heart,  or  I'll 
mope,  or  kill  myself,  you're  jolly  well  mis- 
taken. I'll  get  some  one  as  good  as  either 
of  you,  and  better." 

She  paused  for  breath,  then  she  snapped 
at  him  again: 

"And  you'd  better  pay  for  all  that  medi- 
cine; I'm  not  going  to  pay  for  it." 

"How  much  is  it?" 

"Fifty  dollars." 

He  drew  out  his  check  book. 

"No  it  isn't.  It's  five  hundred,  a  thou- 
sand; I  want  a  thousand  dollars." 

He  scrawled  his  signature,  she  snatched 
up  the  paper,  and  whirled  out  of  the  room. 

I  met  her  on  the  stairs. 

"You  look  very  pale,  Miss  May;  may  I 
help  you  down?  I'm  afraid  you'll  fall." 

"I  wish  all  the  men  in  the  world  were 
dead." 

"I  beg  your  pardon." 

"No,  I  didn't  mean  you,  Mr.  High,"  she 
said  suddenly,  seizing  my  arm,  as  she 
staggered.  "Please  help  me,  don't  go  away. 
Take  me  somewhere,  take  me  home.  Oh 
my  head!  I  don't  want  to  faint  here,  I 
don't  want  him  to  see  me  like  this." 

I  lifted  her  in  my  arms  and  carried  her 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  71 

to  the  balcony  in  the  rear,  then  down  the 
stairs,  and  into  the  little  covert  under  the 
timber  pile. 

"Now,  don't  faint  or  be  afraid.  I'll  be 
gone  only  a  second.  I'll  get  you  some  salts 
and  a  drink;  then  I'll  take  you  home." 

It  was  about  two  weeks  later.  I  had 
often  seen  May  at  the  chop  suey  and  paid 
for  her  dinners,  but  had  always  succeeded 
in  evading  her  gentle  overtures.  This 
night  I  noticed  her  at  a  table  with  a  type 
similar  to  Jack.  Jack,  Steel,  and  Calls  sat 
at  another  table.  I  took  the  vacant  one 
between  them. 

May  and  her  companion  were  more  in- 
timate than  a  casual  acquaintanceship  and 
the  propriety  of  a  public  restaurant  war- 
ranted. She  was  evidently  bent  on  demon- 
strating to  Jambon  that  she  was  better  off 
for  the  change,  and  she  exerted  all  her 
feminine  wiles  to  elicit  open  admiration 
from  her  Lothario  as  a  provocating  proof 
that  she  not  only  loved,  but  was  loved  in 
return. 

Suddenly  an  exasperating  and  unfore- 
seen circumstance  interrupted  this  drama. 
Lothario  was  called  to  the  phone.  When 
he  returned,  he  looked  grave,  and  his 
hesitating  explanations  and  apologies  filled 
his  listener  with  dismay.  She  seemed  to 


72  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

be  stunned,  and  did  not  recover  her  equili- 
brium until  he  had  left  the  chop  suey  and 
her  eye  fell  on  me.  Then  she  came  to  my 
table. 

"Oh,  Mr.  High,  he  just  heard  that  his 
father  was  taken  suddenly  ill,  and  he  had 
to  leave  me  like  that.  It  gave  me  quite  a 
turn." 

"Won't  he  come  back  again?" 

"Not  to-night,  but  he  made  a  date  for 
to-morrow  night.  And  I  was  having  such 
a  good  time.  But  why  is  it  you  always 
look  so  glum?"  she  inquired  with  a  sudden 
change  of  front.  "I  don't  want  to  have 
the  blues  to-night.  Liven  up  a  bit,  for  my 
sake.  Do  now,  there's  a  good  chap,  and 
I'll  be  nice  to  you  too,  so  nice,  you  can't 
think.  You  know,  I  really  like  you,  you're 
such  a  gentleman,  but  you  treat  me  just 
like  dad.  Now  if  you'd  only  imagine  that 
I'm  ten  years  older,  and  you  ten  years 
younger,  and  that  I  don't  want  a  dad,  you 
don't  know  what  a  good  time  we'd  have 
together." 

She  was  attempting  to  put  me  in  the 
place  of  Lothario ;  she  had  been  worked  up 
to  such  a  pitch  of  recklessness  that  she 
was  compelled  to  continue  the  role  she  had 
adopted,  and  the  derangement  of  her  de- 
nouement only  made  her  redouble  her 
darts,  though  the  target  had  changed. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  73 

She  was  so  absorbed  in  this  purpose  that 
she  was  totally  blind  to  my  impregnability. 

And  I  ?  I  was  thinking  how  I  could  pro- 
tect this  girl  of  sixteen  against  herself. 
To-morrow  she  would  have  taken  another 
irrevocable  step  towards  irredeemableness. 

A  terrible  resolve  took  possession  of  me. 

"Let's  go  up  to  Madame  Coupler's,"  she 
urged  excitedly  and  in  a  voice  that  was 
intended  for  Jack's  ears. 

I  answered  in  barely  audible  tones: 

"I  don't  think  I  shall  be  welcome  there." 

"Well,  come  with  me  to  another  place. 
I  know  where  we  can  go,  and  nobody  will 
see  or  hear  us,  and  we  can  have  a  nice 
long  talk,  all  by  ourselves.  Come  on." 

I  followed  in  her  wake.  At  the  hall  door 
sat  the  janitor.  She  spoke  to  him  in  a 
whisper,  while  I  held  aloof.  Then  she 
beckoned  to  me  to  approach. 

"Don't  be  afraid,  we're  going  down  into 
the  basement.  There's  such  a  cosy  little 
nook  down  there.  But  we've  got  to  walk 
in  the  dark,  so  that  we  can't  see  the  way 
in,  and  when  we're  in,  we  can't  get  out  till 
the  janitor  lets  us  out.  Are  you  afraid?" 

"No,  I'm  not  afraid.  But  will  you  excuse 
me  just  for  five  minutes?  I've  got  to  ring 
somebody  up." 

"You're  not  trying  to  get  away,  are  you  ? 
If  you're  not  back  in  five  minutes,  I'll  never 


74  CRIMINALS   OF    CHICAGO 

forgive  you,  and  I'll  never  speak  to  you 
again." 

I  was  moving  off  when  she  put  her  hand 
on  my  arm  and  stopped  me. 

"Don't  you  like  me?  Tell  me  the  truth. 
Don't  fool  me." 

"I'm  not  fooling  you.  When  I  say  I'll 
come  back,  I  mean  it.  But  you'll  be  sorry." 

"No,  I  won't  be  sorry." 

"How  about  the  young  fellow  that  just 
left  you?" 

"I  don't  know,  perhaps  he  fooled  me  and 
won't  come  back  to-morrow.  I  don't  think 
you're  like  that.  You're  honest." 

"But  if  he  does  come  back?" 

"If  he  comes  back —  If  you  show  me 
to-night  that  you  love  me,  and  he  comes 
back  to-morrow,  I  won't  speak  to  him. 
But  you  don't  say  that  you  like  me.  Per- 
haps you'll  tell  me  when  we're  alone,  eh?" 

"And  if  I'm  ever  cruel  to  you?" 

"Cruel!  Come  back  quick,  you  stupid; 
you  couldn't  be  cruel  to  a  fly." 

I  hurried  up  to  my  lair  and  took  out  of 
my  satchel  a  coil  of  covered  wire.  Cutting 
off  a  piece  about  four  yards  long,  I  folded 
it  into  four,  and  hid  it  in  my  pocket. 

"Well,  you  see  I'm  back." 

"Come  on,  make  haste!  I'm  dying  to 
hear  you  talk  to  me.  I'll  do  nothing  but 
listen.  You  use  such  perfect  English,  not 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  75 

like  a  Frenchman  at  all,  and  I'm  sure  you 
can  say  nice  things  if  you  only  want  to — 

"I'm  scared  in  this  dark.  I'm  always 
afraid  when  I  come  down  here.  I  think  I 
can  see  ghosts,  but  I  know  it's  only 
imagination.  Oh !  did  you  see  that  ?  Take 
hold  of  my  arm,  so  that  I  can  feel  you. 
Make  haste,  Righteous,  I  believe  you're  not 
going  fast  on  purpose,  so  that  I —  Oh !  did 
you  see  that?" 

She  threw  herself  on  to  my  shoulder, 
and  hid  her  face. 

"Come  along,  Miss  May,  here  we  are," 
and  a  stream  of  light  burst  upon  us.  We 
were  standing  beneath  my  periscope. 

"0,  it's  you,  is  it,  Mr.  Eye?  I  didn't 
know  ye.  So,  you  want  something  younger 
than  Madame,  I  see.  Well,  I  don't  blame 
ye.  Miss  May's  a  fine  lass,  an'  if  she 
wasn't,  I  wouldn't  bring  ye  two  here,  be- 
cause I'm  responsible  for  the  pertiklerness 
o'  this  block,  an'  I'm  a  member  o'  the 
church.  Ye've  come  to  talk  it  over,  eh? 
Well,  ye  couldn't  a  chosen  a  quieter  cranny, 
an'  I'll  let  no  one  in  on  ye  for  an  hour, 
an'  I  won't  let  ye  out  either.  Here's  luck, 
an'  I'll  throw  the  first  slipper." 

"I  got  quite  scared  in  the  dark.  I  thought 
I  saw  an  angel  holding  your  other  arm. 
You  know  I  sometimes  see  things,  and 
Gulliver  asked  me  to  sit  with  him,  and  he'd 


76  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

develop  me  into  a  good  medium.  Let's  sit 
down  on  the  couch  and  talk.  My !  why  do 
you  look  so  pale  and  serious.  My  God! 
I'm  afraid  something's  going  to  happen. 
Why  don't  you  say  something,  talk,  or  I'll 
scream." 

"May,  I  have  come  here  only  for  one 
purpose,  to  ask  you  never  to  return  to  this 
block  again,  to  devote  your  life  to  your 
studies  and  some  honest  profession,  to  keep 
your  little  sister  off  the  streets  and  prevent 
her  from  following  in  the  sinful  path  which 
you  have  chosen,  but  which  it  is  not  too 
late  to  forsake,  if  you  will  ask  God's  help. 
You  are  only  sixteen,  and  do  not  know 
what  is  before  you.  Your  experience  with 
Jack  and  Steel  and  with  Pureheart  is  only 
a  foretaste  of  what  your  life  will  be,  if  you 
do  not  repent. 

"I've  heard  you  laugh  at  marriage,  and 
say  you  would  never  give  up  your  liberty 
for  any  man.  You  have  become  a  greater 
slave  to  your  passions  than  any  honest  wife 
and  mother  could  ever  become.  God  or- 
dained marriage,  and  it  is  the  only  rela- 
tionship between  the  sexes  that  can  bring 
happiness  to  men  and  women.  You  would 
never  be  treated  by  a  husband  as  you  have 
been  treated  by  Jack  and  Steel,  and  as  any 
other  man  would  finally  treat  you  if  he 
were  not  the  father  of  your  children. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  77 

"I  have  heard  you  despise  children. 
When  you  are  an  old  woman,  and  have  lost 
the  beauty  of  youth,  and  are  alone  in  the 
world  without  a  home,  then  your  heart  will 
cry  out  for  some  son  or  daughter  to  caress, 
or  to  be  at  your  bedside  in  sickness.  God 
said,  'Be  fruitful  and  multiply.'  And  what 
is  the  alternative  ?  You  have  felt  it  at  the 
hands  of  Pureheart,  and  you  will  find  it 
more  in  life-long  hysteria  and  melancholia. 

"I  have  heard  you  say  that  a  woman 
that  is  earning  a  competent  salary  should 
not  throw  it  up  for  a  man,  who  may  not 
be  able  to  keep  her  in  the  luxury  that  her 
earnings  permitted.  And  then  you  have 
said  that  if  you  have  to  work  after  you  are 
married  to  retain  the  same  income,  it  is 
better  not  to  be  married.  Your  stupid 
Government  is  responsible  for  these  im- 
moral fallacies.  When  your  teacher  mar- 
ries, your  foolish  legislators  compel  her  to 
leave  her  work,  a  work  which  only  a  wife 
and  mother  is  able  efficiently  to  perform. 
Read  the  Bible,  and  see  what  God  says 
about  married  women  working.  See  what 
is  said  about  'the  virtuous  woman  whose 
price  is  far  above  rubies'." 

I  was  beginning  to  forget  that  I  was 
speaking  to  a  mere  child. 

"Your  law-makers  say  that  a  married 
woman's  interests  lie  in  her  home.  That 


78  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

is  an  ennobling  influence  and  one  that  will 
react  beneficially  on  her  scholars.  As  a 
mother  wishes  her  own  daughter  to  be,  so 
she  will  train  the  daughters  of  others. 
Have  your  legislators  ever  stopped  to  study 
the  psychology  of  the  unmarried  teacher, 
to  find  out  where  her  interests  lie  ?  More 
in  trying  to  make  herself  attractive  to 
some  man,  in  arranging  dates  and  dresses, 
than  in  fitting  girls  for  domestic  experi- 
ences of  which  she  is  totally  ignorant.  As 
the  pedagogue,  so  the  pupil!" 

I  stopped  abruptly,  feeling  that  I  was 
rising  above  her  intelligence. 

She  had  watched  me  with  ever  widening 
eyes  and  growing  anger. 

"So,  that's  why  you  came  with  me,  to 
preach  me  a  sermon.  I  should  have  known 
that  a  man  old  enough  to  be  my  father 
would  have  sense  for  nothing  else.  And 
what's  my  affairs  got  to  do  with  you,  you 
old  idiot!  Mind  your  own  business!  I'll 
do  as  I  like,  and  please  myself,  without 
asking  advice,  or  giving  account  to  such 
as  you.  I  expect  you  thought  you  could 
say  what  you  liked  to  me,  because  I  said 
I  loved  you.  Love  you,  a  thing  like  you? 
You  make  me  sick  to  look  at  you." 

She  turned  her  back  in  my  face. 

I  drew  the  wire  from  my  pocket,  and, 
stepping  to  one  side,  brought  it  down  upon 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  79 

her  shoulders  with  the  force  of  a  cat-o'- 
nine-tails. 

A  piercing  shriek  filled  the  cell,  and  she 
dropped  to  her  hands  and  knees.  Her 
whole  body  shook  with  sobbing  and  moan- 
ing, the  blood  soaked  through  her  waist, 
and  trickled  down  her  nape  on  to  the  floor, 
bringing  to  my  mind  the  incongruous 
visions  of  sanguisages  and  sacrifices  I  had 
witnessed  in  the  Orient. 

I  turned  away,  and  wiped  the  tears  from 
my  eyes,  while  I  prayed  to  God  to  forgive 
me  if  I  had  done  wrong. 

Suddenly  I  felt  her  arms  around  my 
legs,  and  looking  down,  beheld  her  blood 
and  tear-stained  face  turned  to  mine  in 
remorse  and  supplication. 

"Don't  strike  me  again,  for  God's  sake! 
I'll  never  come  here  again,  I'll  save  my 
little  sister,  I'll  study  and  work,  and  I'll 
pray,  0  God !  I'll  pray,  as  he  tells  me,  only 
forgive  me  for  what  I've  said  and  done, 
and  I'll  never  sin  again.  You  won't  strike 
me  again,  will  you  ?  I'll  do  all  you  tell  me. 
I'm  different  now.  I  won't  be  wicked 
again — 

"If  you'd  only  love  me,  or  let  me  love 
you,  I'd  be  able  to  do  some  good  in  the 
world.  For  you  I  could  be  a  wife  and  a 
mother.  Thank  God,  you  struck  me !  I'm 
different  now.  I  told  you  a  lie  when  I  said 


80  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

I  did  not  love  you.  I  never  loved  anybody 
till  you  carried  me  down  the  stairs  in  your 
arms.  No  man  is  like  you,  I  want  to  be 
good,  and  useful,  for  you.  And  if  you 
strike  me  again,  I  know  you  will  do  it  only 
for  my  good.  Thank  God,  you  struck  me ! 
Thank  God,  you've  made  me  different!" 

Then,  somehow,  the  light  was  turned 
off. 

"Oh!  There's  the  angel  again  standing 
near  you.  And  there's  another.  No,  it's 
a  devil.  See  he's  coming  for  me.  High! 
High !  Hold  me  tight !  Don't  let  him  take 
me.  Tell  him  I'm  different,  I  won't  sin 
again.  I've  changed,  and  I'll  pray.  God 
have  mercy  on  me.  Don't  let  him  take 
me." 

The  light  returned,  as  "that  orbed  con- 
tinent, the  fire  that  severs  day  from 
night,"  the  Cyprian  gloom  dispersed,  and 
was  no  more. 

I  bent  down,  and  raised  this  regenerated 
penitent  from  the  ground. 

I  had  not  done  wrong. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  81 


IV. 
OPIUM  OPHIDIA. 

We  now  revert  to  the  Saturday  night 
with  which  I  opened  the  preceding  chapter. 

I  am  at  my  first  periscope.  Ching  Wo 
Po  is  seated  beneath  me  on  his  haunches 
with  his  legs  crossed  under  him  like  a 
Buddhist  idol.  He  is  engaged  in  preparing 
opium  pipes.  Every  now  and  then  a  stag- 
gering, blear-eyed  Oriental  thrusts  his 
head  into  the  room  like  a  spectre,  and  van- 
ishes. Ching  Wo  Po  continues  to  prepare 
the  poppy  plague,  unmindful  of  these  in- 
trusions, his  imagination  filled  with  a 
phantasmagoria  of  American  girls  that 
have  passed  in  and  out  of  his  laundry  dur- 
ing the  day. 

Here  is  another  Celestial  ghoul.  No,  he 
seems  to  be  human.  He  enters,  and  in 
his  arms  he  bears  a  white  woman.  Her 
naked  arms  are  entwined  around  his  bull 
neck,  and  she  speaks. 

"My  lord,  you  are  more  handsome  than 
all  the  gods.  My  Apollo,  you  are  strong 
as  a  lion,  and  gentle  as  a  lamb.  Bear  me 


82  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

in  your  arms  to  paradise.  There  is  no  love 
like  your  love,  my  king,  my  conqueror !" 

Fujii  pays  no  heed  to  these  Circean 
panegyrics,  he  understands  them  not,  and 
if  he  does,  this  is  the  woman  of  the  giant, 
the  dispenser  of  punishment  or  protection. 
He  places  Calls  gently  on  the  couch,  and 
loosens  her  unwilling  arms. 

"My  lord,  why  do  you  leave  me?  Now 
is  the  hour  of  bliss.  My  lips  are  thirsting 
for  your  embraces.  Return,  A j ax!  Return, 
Apollo !  My  arms  would  hold  you,  for  you 
are  mine  and  I'm  yours.  Return,  my  lord, 
return !" 

But  he  has  disappeared. 

Ching  Wo  Po's  fingers  twirl  around  the 
pipes  as  deftly  as  they  do  among  a  lady's 
frills,  and  he  sees  nothing,  hears  nothing, 
except  the  smiles  and  the  laughter  of  the 
American  girls  that  carry  boxes  of  pure 
white  frocks  out  of  his  shop. 

From  the  couch  the  praises  of  Apollo 
rise  reiteratedly,  but  no  god  appears  to 
appease  these  appeals. 

Fujii  enters  again,  bearing  another 
human  burden,  but  she  is  silent  and  hangs 
limply  in  his  powerful  arms.  He  lays  her 
on  the  floor  and  glides  away  as  swiftly  as 
a  serpent. 

Ching  Wo  Po's  fingers  have  suddenly 
ceased  their  manipulations.  Was  he  as 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  83 

oblivious  to  his  surroundings  as  his  Chi- 
nese passivity  purported  ?  A  furtive  glance 
at  the  American  girl  on  the  floor,  a  fura- 
cious  look  to  the  door,  and  he  crawls  to- 
wards her  as  silently  as  a  cat.  He  has 
reached  her  side,  and  is  poised  as  if  about 
to  spring.  Another  rapid  leer  over  his 
shoulders  at  the  entrance  of  the  crypt,  and 
he  stretches  forth  one  hand  and  gently 
caresses  the  auburn  curls  and  white  swan- 
like  throat  with  his  lank-clammy  fingers. 

There  is  a  sudden  shuffling  of  slippered 
feet,  Ching  Wo  Po  recoils  as  a  catapult, 
and  is  again  absorbed  in  his  mirage. 

A  shrivelled,  shrunken  apparition  totters 
into  the  roomi,  and  drops  half  across  the 
girl  on  the  floor. 

The  pipe  packer  moves  as  if  to  approach 
his  compatriot,  but  a  volley  of  American 
oaths  approaching,  arrests  him. 

Steel  staggers  forward,  cursing  as  he 
comes.  His  foot  strikes  the  prostrate 
Chinaman,  and  he  looks  around. 

"Get  out  o'  here,  you pig,"  and  he 

kicks  the  stupefied  fiend  clear  of  the  girl. 
— Another  kick  elicits  a  howl  from  Ching 
Wo  Po,  before  he  can  leap  clear  of  the 
whisky-sodden  brute. 

"Here,  you  Chinaman,  take  that 

brother  of  yours  out,  and  get  out  o' 

here  yourself,  and  shut  the  door  after  you, 
if  you  don't  want  your  dirty  head  split." 


84  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

While  the  one  Celestial  drags  the  other 
away,  Steel  drops  on  to  the  couch,  and  is 
welcomed  by  a  paean  of  praise: 

"My  conqueror,  I  knew  you  would  re- 
turn. Beautiful  Apollo,  I  have  waited  for 
your  embraces  for  many  years.  Why  have 
you  kept  me  waiting  and  panting  for  your 
love?  Here  I  am,  yours,  my  king,  my 
conqueror." 

The  door  is  closed  behind  the  Chinamen, 
and  everything  is  wrapt  in  darkness,  the 
darkness  that  hides  the  Inferno  from 
mortal  vision. 

"Who  is  that  red-haired  girl  in  the  den?" 

"She's  May's  chum,  Mr.  Eye,  an'  I  'as 
got  to  bring  her  out  at  12  o'clock,  so's  she 
can  get  home." 

"You'll  bring  her  out  at  once." 

"But  she  won't  wake  up  before  twelve, 
an'  if  I  go  in  now,  Steel'll  kill  me." 

"Steel's  drunk,  and  it's  all  dark;  and  if 
he  says  anything,  tell  him  it's  midnight." 

"But  she's  asleep." 

"All  the  better.    Go!" 

Righteous  brought  the  sleeping  girl 
to  me  without  any  mishap  and  placed  her 
in  my  arms.  She  was  barely  sixteen,  about 
my  own  height,  and  very  slender.  Her 
complexion,  naturally  waxen,  now  had  the 
pallor  of  death. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  85 

"Bring  me  a  coil  of  rope  to  strap  her 
to  my  back." 

When  this  operose  operation  was  com- 
pleted under  my  direction  and  to  my  satis- 
faction, I  dismissed  the  hypnotized  janitor 
to  his  post  at  the  door  of  the  den. 

In  my  last  ascents  to  the  balcony  roof  I 
had  made  use  of  a  ladder  that  projected 
through  a  skylight.  I  now  scrambled  up 
this  as  best  I  could,  then  over  the  roof 
and  to  the  window.  Both  of  us  could  not 
pass  through  at  the  same  time,  as  I  had 
anticipated,  so  I  was  compelled  to  loosen 
the  ropes,  crawl  through  myself  first,  and 
then  drag  the  girl  in. 

As  soon  as  we  were  safely  under  the 
roof,  I  tied  a  handkerchief  across  her 
mouth  and  lay  down  at  her  side  to  sleep. 
The  precaution  of  a  gag,  however,  proved 
unnecessary,  as  I  awoke  at  4  A.  M.,  about 
two  hours  before  her. 

As  soon  as  she  started  to  move  I  untied 
her  hands  and  woke  her  up.  My  diabolic 
doublet  and  domino  caused  her  eyes  to 
bulge  in  terror,  and  she  would  have 
shrieked  if  her  mouth  had  not  been 
covered. 

"I'm  going  to  let  you  speak,  but  if  you 
scream  I'll  kill  you.  If  you  do  as  I  tell 
you,  I'll  not  hurt  you,  and  you  may  go 
home  again  to-night." 


86  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

I  removed  the  handkerchief. 

"Now  tell  me  who  you  are." 

She  was  too  terrified  to  open  her  mouth, 
and  stared  at  me  as  if  hypnotized.  I  waited 
patiently  for  several  minutes,  and  then 
addressed  her  again. 

"I'm  going  to  let  you  see  May,  soon. 
Tell  me  your  name." 

She  opened  her  mouth  to  speak,  but  only 
incoherent  articulations  escaped  her.  At 
last  she  could  formulate  a  complete  sen- 
tence. 

"Where  ami?" 

"You  are  in  Hell  and  I  am  the  Devil." 

She  shuddered,  and  drew  her  hands  over 
her  eyes  to  blot  me  out. 

"But  you  need  not  be  afraid.  I  shall 
let  you  return  to  earth  again,  and  will 
bring  you  back  only  if  you  smoke  or  do 
anything  wrong  again.  Now  what  is  your 
name?" 

"Mary,"  she  stuttered. 

"Mary  who?" 

"Mountjoy." 

"Now,  Mary  Mountjoy,  sit  up  and  you 
will  feel  more  comfortable.  Don't  speak 
very  loud,  or  the  inhabitants  of  Hell  will 
hear  you  and  flock  around  us." 

She  covered  her  ears  with  her  hands 
and  turned  on  her  side  in  anticipatory 
agony.  I  raised  her  to  a  sitting  posture 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  87 

and  taking  hold  of  her  hands,  uncovered 

her  ears. 

"What  do  you  know  about  May?" 
"She's  my  class-mate.    Is  she  here?" 
"Yes,  she's  here,  and  you'll  see  her." 
"She  didn't  come  for  me,  and  Righteous 

was  going  to  wake  me  up,  so  I  could  go 

home." 

"Yes,  I  know,  and  you'll  soon  see  why 

May  couldn't  come  for  you.  How  long  have 

you  been  smoking  opium?" 

"Six  months.    Please  let  me  go  home 

to  my  mother.    They  won't  know  where 

I  am.    What  time  is  it?" 

"It's  six  in  the  morning." 

She  uttered  a  faint  scream,  but  immedi- 
ately suppressed  it  as  I  raised  my  hand 
toward  her  mouth. 

"Oh,  what  shall  I  do?  I've  never  been 
out  all  the  night  before.  They  always 
woke  me  at  twelve,  so  I  could  get  home. 
Can't  I  go  home?" 

"You  can't  go  home  till  it's  night  again." 

She  burst  into  tears,  and  between  her 
sobs  she  moaned: 

"What  will  father  and  mother  say? 
They'll  go  to  the  police,  and  they'll  think 
I'm  dead.  Can't  I  go  back?  I'm  not  dead, 
am  I?" 

"No,  you're  not  dead,  you're  alive." 

"If  I  promise  I  won't  do  any  bad  things 


88  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

again,  won't  you  let  me  go?  What  are 
you  going  to  do  with  me?  Can't  I  go?" 

"Now,  don't  do  so  much  talking.  Answer 
my  questions,  and  you'll  be  home  again  to- 
night. Who  took  you  into  the  opium  den? 
May?" 

"No,  it  wasn't  May.  It's  the  Chinaman. 
He  took  me  and  another  girl  through  the 
laundry.  He  told  me  May  was  there,  and 
when  I  saw  May  smoking,  I  also  tried  it." 

"And  where's  the  other  girl?" 

"I  don't  know.  She  got  lost  or  ran  away. 
Her  picture  was  in  the  papers,  and  the 
police  said  she  eloped.  I  asked  the  China- 
man, and  he  told  me  that  the  big  man 
with  the  scar  on  his  head  sent  her  to 
Mexico,  because  she  said  she  wanted  to  go 
on  the  stage.  He  told  me  not  to  say  any- 
thing about  it." 

"What  was  her  name?" 

"Mary,  my  name,  Mary  Ashland.  He 
asked  me  if  I  wanted  to  go  to  Seattle,  and 
I  would  become  a  dancer,  but  I  was  afraid, 
and  the  Chinaman  told  me  not  to  go  away 
from  Chicago,  if  they  asked  me." 

'"The  Chinaman  seems  to  be  your 
friend." 

"He  never  made  me  pay  for  my  laundry, 
and  he  once  asked  me  to  marry  him.  He's 
got  lots  of  money  and  a  nice  house  and  a 
machine,  but  I  wouldn't  marry  a  China- 
man." 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  89 

"Do  you  know  Jambon?" 

"Yes,  he's  May's  feller.  He  asked  me 
many  times  to  go  up  to  Gulliver's  with 
him,  but  I  wouldn't  go  out  with  May's 
feller,  and  the  Chinaman  told  me  he's  a 
bad  man,  and  to  keep  away  from  him.  I 
once  heard  him  speaking  to  the  man  with 
the  scar  (I  don't  know  his  name) ,  and  they 
thought  I  was  asleep.  I  was  just  waking 
up.  The  scar  man  told  him  that  Mary 
Ashland  was  making  lots  of  money,  but 
they  had  to  watch  her  carefully,  as  she 
wanted  to  run  away.  They  talked  as  if 
she  was  like  a  prisoner  and  they  beat  her. 
I  didn't  understand  properly,  and  when  I 
asked  the  Chinaman,  he  wouldn't  tell  me. 
He  only  said  that  if  he  didn't  want  to 
marry  me,  they  would  have  sent  me  to 
Mexico  also.  But  I  think  he  said  that 
only  to  frighten  me  into  marrying  him," 

"I  think  he  was  telling  you  the  truth, 
and  it  is  fortunate  that  he  really  wanted 
to  marry  you  or  your  experiences  would 
not  have  ended  with  the  opium  den. 

"Now  I  am  going  to  let  you  see  May,  but 
I  must  tie  up  your  mouth  again.  It  will 
be  a  terrible  sight,  but  I  must  show  it  to 
you,  so  that  you  may  know  from  what  I 
have  saved  you.  Satan  sometimes  saves 
sinners  if  they  are  as  foolish  as  you  are. 
It  is  only  those  who  refuse  to  be  rescued 
that  are  ruthlessly  damned." 


90  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

The  relief  that  had  begun  to  take  posses- 
sion of  her  suddenly  evaporated  as  I 
muffled  her  again,  and  the  terror  which 
had  seized  her  soul  in  her  waking  moments 
returned  redoubled.  Her  hands  rested 
limply  in  her  lap,  too  weak  and  agitated 
to  cover  her  eyes  or  close  her  ears  again. 

I  then  took  the  look  described  in  the 
previous  chapter,  and  asked  this  gaunt 
girl  to  bear  a  scene  which  was  too  repulsive 
even  for  me. 

While  I  held  her  shoulders  to  prevent 
her  falling,  I  felt  the  galvanic  convulsions 
shake  her  body,  then  suddenly  she  lay 
motionless  in  my  grasp,  and  her  head  sank 
to  one  side. 

I  did  not  attempt  to  revive  her,  but 
carried  her  to  where  I  judged  she  would 
not  be  heard  in  case  she  moved,  and  I  left 
her  lying  on  her  back  in  her  unconscious 
condition.  Then  I  crawled  to  Madame's 
periscope.  I  saw  Steel  in  his  room  engaged 
in  his  morning  ablutions,  and  heard  an 
occasional  oath  escape  his  compressed 
lips. 

As  soon  as  he  was  dressed,  he  rang  up 
someone,  but  I  could  not  catch  his  words. 
My  first  intention  was  to  leave  the  peri- 
scope and  move  towards  my  tapping  wires, 
but  I  feared  I  might  miss  something  more 
important  than  his  message.  I  according- 
ly waited. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  91 

In  a  few  minutes  my  patience  was  re- 
warded. Ching  Wo  Po  slunk  into  the  room 
in  abject  servility, 

"Say,  you  dirty  Chinaman,  how  much 
have  you  got  for  me?" 

The  Celestial  laid  a  roll  of  bills  on  the 
table,  and  the  detective  proceeded  to  count 
them  in  most  deliberate  fashion.  Then  he 
stared  at  the  Chinaman,  who  had  never 
dared  to  raise  his  eyes  and  who  now 
seemed  to  shrivel  to  half  his  stature. 

Suddenly  he  raised  his  hand  and  flung 
the  notes  into  Ching's  face. 

"What  you  mean,  you  dog,  by  bringing 
me  only  hundred  dollars?" 

"The  copper  shakee  me  down  seventy 
dollar,  last  night." 

"And  supposing  he  did  ?  You  must  have 
collected  at  least  five  hundred.  They  were 
shooting  craps  all  the  night." 

"No,  Boss,  not  shootee  craps,  last  night. 
Help  me  God!  Only  hundred-seventy." 

"None  of  your lies,  you wash- 
tub.  I  want  three  hundred.  Get  out  and 
get  'em." 

"Help  me  God!  Boss,  no  gotee  three 
hundred." 

"If  I  don't  get  three  hundred  before  10 
o'clock,  I'll  see  what  we  can  do  with  that 
kid  that  you  want  to  marry." 

Ching  looked  up  in  blank  terror,  and  then 
fell  to  his  hands  and  knees. 


92  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

"Boss  not  kill  girl?  Machine  not  takee 
home  last  night." 

"Oh  no,  I  won't  kill  her;  she  wouldn't 
be  worth  much  dead.  I'll  send  her  down 
to  Mexico  to  the  other  kids,  and  break 
her  in." 

The  Chinaman  lifted  his  hands  in  Sinim 
supplication. 

"Boss  no  sendee  girl  Mexico.  I  bring 
three  hundred  next  week.  I  gotee  brother 
lend  me." 

"No  you  won't.  I  want  it  before  ten.  I 
want  to  buy  some  lots." 

"I  goee  ring  brother." 

The  Chinaman  was  about  to  leave  when 
Steel  stopped  him. 

"Here,  you  dirty  scrubber,  I've  got  a 
proposition.  That  kid'll  never  marry  you. 
If  you  get  me  $5,000,  I'll  force  her  to 
marry  you,  and  if  she  won't,  I'll  give  her 
to  you  just  the  same,  and  you  can  spend 
your  honeymoon  downstairs  in  the  den. 
What  you  say?  Will  you  have  $5,000  by 
next  Saturday  night  when  she  comes  round 
again  ?" 

The  Chinaman  looked  at  him  in  doubt. 

"I  won't  fool  you.  Fujii  can  keep  the 
stakes,  and  we'll  keep  the  kid  in  the  den 
with  you  till  she  agrees  to  live  with  you 
and  not  to  squeal.  Then  I'll  take  the  bills." 

"But  if  girl  goee  home?" 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  93 

"That's  up  to  you.  You've  got  a  nice 
house,  and  if  you  give  her  your  machine 
and  some  diamonds  and  dresses,  and  take 
her  to  Frisco  or  New  York  and  give  her  a 
good  time,  there's  no  reason  why  she 
shouldn't  stick  to  you." 

"Where  Ching  getee  muchee  money  like 
Rockyfeller,  buy  all  things  and  goee 
Frisco?  And  who  lookee  shop?" 

"That's  all  right,  you've  got  enough. 
You  haven't  been  robbing  all  those  opium 
suckers  for  five  years  for  nothing,  and  you 
can  leave  your  brother  in  the  shop.  I 
won't  increase  your  rent  for  another  year, 
and  that'll  save  you  a  couple  of  hundred, 
and  your  brother  can  look  after  the  den, 
and  he'll  be  able  to  steal  enough  to  send 
you." 

"How  muchee  Boss  take  for  smoke  from 
brother?" 

"I'll  keep  it  down  to  $250  a  week,  and 
he  can  stick  to  the  rest." 

The  Chinaman  pondered  this  tempting 
bait  of  an  American  girl. 

"Go  and  fetch  that  three  hundred  and 
make  arrangements  for  the  five  thousand, 
and  \\hen  you  get  back  you  can  give  me 
your  answer." 

Ching  slipped  out  of  the  room  and  Steel 
took  up  the  Sunday  paper. 

I  immediately  crawled  back  to  my  cap- 


94  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

tive,  and  was  now  as  anxious  to  bring  her 
to  as  I  had  previously  desired  her  to  re- 
main quiet  in  her  swoon  as  long  as  possible. 
I  had  half  an  hour  to  fan  and  friction  her 
and  then  force  her  to  suck  a  few  mint 
lozenges,  the  only  nourishment  I  had  avail- 
able. 

"I  don't  want  you  to  faint  again.  If  you 
do,  I  won't  be  responsible  for  your  safety. 
I'm  going  to  show  you  your  Chinese  friend 
and  the  man  with  the  scar.  They've 
traded  you  to  Ching,  and  will  force  you  to 
marry  him,  or  something  worse,  next 
Saturday.  You'll  see  the  money  pass 
hands,  and  may  even  hear  the  bargain 
discussed. 

"Let  me  tie  up  your  mouth  again,  so 
that  you  can't  scream. 

"As  soon  as  it  gets  dark,  I'll  let  you  out 
and  put  you  in  a  machine  to  take  you  home. 
I  think  you  had  better  leave  Chicago  for 
some  time.  If  you  have  any  relatives  in 
some  other  town,  go  to  them.  Don't  you 
ever  come  back  to  this  opium  den  again, 
or  let  Ching  or  Steel,  that's  the  man  with 
the  scar,  hear  that  you're  in  Chicago,  or 
they'll  get  you,  as  sure  as  I  liberate  you 
from  Hell." 

She  listened  to  me  as  a  punished  and 
obedient  child. 

"Now  get  on  to  my  back  and  hold  tight." 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  95 

With  this  strange  burden  and  in 
stranger  guise,  I  crept  back  to  Steel's 
ceiling,  and  deposited  her  gently  on  the 
boards.  As  soon  as  Ching  returned,  I 
placed  her  in  possession  of  the  microphone 
and  the  periscope,  and  she  told  me  after- 
wards what  passed. 

The  Chinaman  handed  a  roll  of  bills  to 
the  detective,  who  counted  them  and  then 
asked : 

"What  about  the  five  thousand?" 

"Boss  makee  girl  marry  me?" 

"If  you  deposit  the  money  with  Fujii, 
Mary  Mount  joy  will  be  Mrs.  Ching  Wo  Po 
next  Saturday  night.  If  she  ain't,  you 
can  take  your  money  back." 

"And  if  girl  makee  row,  me  not  go 
prison  ?" 

"No,  you  won't  go  to  the  pen.  Besides, 
we  won't  let  her  out  till  she  swears  she 
won't  squeal.  And  she'll  swear  all  right 
enough  when  she  hears  what'll  happen  to 
her  if  she  does  blab.  Well,  is  it  a  bargain?" 

"I  getee  money  very  good.  Me  marry 
Mary  Saturday  night." 

"Then  get  out  o'  here  quick  now. 
Somebody's  coming  to  see  me." 

We  passed  the  day  in  sleep  and  hunger 
near  the  open  catherine-wheel  window,  and 
as  soon  as  it  grew  dark  enough,  I  blind- 


96  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

folded  her,  tied  her  to  my  back  again,  and 
carried  her  down  to  my  lair  of  logs,  where 
I  brought  her  something  to  eat  and  drink. 
I  then  placed  her  in  a  motorcar,  convinced 
that  I  had  again  successfully  performed 
the  righteous  service  of  a  guardian  angel, 
though  I  had  adopted  for  this  purpose  the 
insignia  of  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  97 


V. 
JAMBON  EUGENICISED. 

The  wave  of  self-murder  steadily  in- 
creases in  volume.  In  1915  there  were 
14,180  suicides  in  the  U.  S.  A.  Of  these, 
965  were  caused  by  domestic  infelicity, 
536  by  disappointed  love. 

The  number  of  deaths  by  personal  vio- 
lence reaches  the  appalling  figure  of  9,230. 
Of  these,  723  were  caused  by  jealousy,  135 
by  infanticide,  16  by  criminal  outrage. 

No  wonder  that  in  this  country  of  98 
lynchings  a  year,  the  country  that  claims 
to  be  the  most  moral  on  earth,  the  urge 
of  sex  should  claim  such  a  tigerish  toll.  It 
is  the  deterration  of  hypocrisy,  the  con- 
comitant of  luxury. 

The  son  of  the  pork  potentate  threads 
his  car  through  the  verdant  boulevards  in 
search  of  prey ;  the  daughter  of  the  poorer 
plebian,  tantalized  by  the  ostentatious 
concatenation  that  rolls  before  her  eyes, 
becomes  a  willing  link  in  this  vicious  circle. 

Wealth  beyond  that  of  any  other  land, 
opportunity  to  share  in  it  and  fritter  it 


98  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

away  in  baubles  either  through  one's  own 
exertions  or  through  the  thriftless  toady- 
ism of  the  males,  gynocracy  defined  and 
practised  as  female  license,  will  lead  to  only 
one  result. 

One  Sunday  I  was  walking  along  these 
blatant  boulevards  to  exercise  my  lungs 
and  limbs,  gain  a  more  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Garden  City's  topography, 
and  satisfy  my  artistic  craving  for  scenery 
and  new  sights,  when  I  noticed  Jambon 
glide  past  me  in  his  double-six.  This  was 
no  fortuitous  coincidence.  Stand  at  any 
point  on  this  magnificent  belt  that  girdles 
the  filthiest  metropolis  in  the  world,  and 
on  a  beautiful  holiday  you  will  see  every 
man  and  woman  that  owns  a  vehicle  pass 
before  your  eyes. 

Paradoxical  ?     No ! 

It  will  require  no  great  stretch  of  im- 
agination either  to  blot  out  the  infernal 
rattle,  nauseating  stench,  and  impene- 
trable pack  of  the  strap-hangers'  trap, 
splashing  mud  or  spreading  dust  over  you, 
and  believe  yourself  beyond  the  limits  of 
a  city,  with  pneumatic-tyred,  incontiguous 
creatures  sailing  through  sylvan  groves, 
redolent  with  the  flowers  of  spring  and 
echoing  only  the  chirp  of  birds. 

All  this  beauty  in  the  largest  hog  market 
in  the  world! 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  99 

And  many  of  the  hogs  in  these  cars! 

It  was  dusk,  and  dark  enough  for  some 
fatuous  female  to  look  with  longing  at  the 
vacant  seats  in  Jambon's  car.  This  breed 
usually  hunt  in  couples,  not  for  mutual 
protection,  but  because  company  engenders 
boldness  and  whispers  wiles.  She  was 
alone  through  exasperated  recklessness. 

He  stopped  his  car  and  nodded  to  her. 
She  blushed,  hesitated,  looked  around 
furtively  to  see  whether  she  was  noticed, 
then  sniggered. 

He  opened  the  door  and  beckoned  her  to 
approach. 

"Come  along,  kid!  Let's  go  for  a  joy- 
ride." 

She  shook  her  head  in  feigned  modesty 
and  refusal.  Then  she  frowned  in  pre- 
tended indignation. 

"Ah  that  deceit  should  steal  such  gentle 
shapes !" 

"I  don't  mean  anything,"  he  apologized. 

"So  smooth,  he  daubed  his  vice  with 
show  of  virtue." 

"I  only  wanted  to  take  you  around  the 
boulevards.  If  you  don't  want  to  come, 
I'm  sorry,  and  I'll  say,  Good-by." 

"I  don't  know  you,"  she  spoke  at  last, 
"and  how  can  I  get  into  a  strange  man's 
machine?" 

"0!  what  a  goodly  outside  falsehood 
hath!" 


100  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"I'll  take  you  only  where  you  wish  to 
go." 

She  approached. 

"Will  you  promise  not  to  take  me  any- 
where and  let  me  get  off  when  I  like?" 

He  laughed. 

"What  a  question !  Where  should  I  want 
to  take  you  to,  and  how  could  I  hold  you 
if  you  didn't  want  to  stop  ?  Come  on,  kid, 
jump  in,  and  I'll  give  you  a  dandy  spin." 

She  had  waited  for  this  second  invitation 
only,  sprang  lightly  into  the  luxuriously 
appointed  seat,  and  as  the  car  moved 
silently  off,  I  noticed  her  ensconce  herself 
comfortably  in  this  "strange  man's"  prop- 
erty, as  if  it  had  belonged  to  her  all  her 
life. 

Facilis  descensus  Averni! 

But  I  did  not  stop  to  meditate.  I  had 
long  made  up  my  mind  to  trap  this  mag- 
nificent biped  ftagrante  delicto,  and  mete 
out  to  him  the  reward  of  his  career,  doubly 
justified  by  the  burden  placed  upon  me 
through  the  love  of  his  latest  victim. 

I  hurried  to  one  of  the  turbid  arteries 
of  the  metropolis,  vaulted  literally  into  a 
juggernaut,  for  the  step  is  so  abnormally 
high,  and  the  indifference,  or  shall  I  call  it 
superciliousness,  of  the  conductor  so  Chi- 
cagoean,  that  you  are  flung  off  your  feet 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  101 

before  you  are  able  to  place  yourself 
safely  on  the  car,  and  soon  found  myself 
in  front  of  our  Block.  I  posted  myself  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  thoroughfare  and 
awaited  events. 

I  was  so  absorbed  in  my  purpose  that, 
though  usually  alert,  I  failed  to  notice  May 
come  down  the  same  pavement  until  she 
addressed  me. 

"Mr.  High,  I  want  to  speak  to  you.  I'm 
so  glad  I  met  you.  I  want  you  to  let  me 
help  you  and  be  near  to  you  always.  Won't 
you  let  me?" 

I  looked  at  this  reformed  girl  in  pity, 
unable  to  refuse  her  ingenuous  desire. 

"Whenever  I  can,  May,  I  will  give  you 
an  opportunity  to  help  me.  I  can't  promise 
to  have  you  near  me  always.  You  must 
find  some  employment,  or  take  up  some 
hobby  or  study  that  will  keep  you  con- 
tinuously busy,  then  you  will  not  feel  that 
you  would  like  to  be  in  my  society  so 
much — " 

"Oh,  I'm  sure  I  shall,"  she  interrupted. 

"You  might  take  up  nursing,"  I  con- 
tinued without  heeding  her.  "It  is  a  noble 
profession,  and  will  enable  you  to  do  good 
to  others  while  improving  yourself." 

As  I  urged  her,  I  noticed  Jambon  drive 
up  with  his  new-found  companion  and  put 
on  the  brakes  before  Waginsky's,  as  I  had 
anticipated. 


102  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"There's  our  friend,  Jack,  with  an  un- 
plucked  chicken.  I  have  an  idea  that  this 
is  going  to  be  his  last  attempt  at  snaring. 
May,  you  can  help  me  to-night,  and  at  the 
same  time  learn  that  revenge  is  sweet, 
though  bear  always  in  mind  that  'Ven- 
geance is  mine,  saith  the  Lord'." 

"In  high  vengeance  there  is  noble  scorn," 
she  capped  from  George  Eliot,  and  knowing 
what  she  had  suffered,  I  dared  not  con- 
tradict. 

Jambon  and  his  quarry  entered  the  drug- 
store, and  a  few  moments  later  I  noticed 
one  of  Speedway's  chauffeurs  drive  the 
double-six  into  the  garage. 

The  timid  damsel  was  evidently  recon- 
ciled to  an  unlimited  extension  of  her  con- 
versation with  the  "strange  man." 

"You  go  into  Fujii's,  May,  and  if  they 
are  there,  let  me  know.  If  they  are  not 
there,  take  a  chambre  separee  and  wait 
for  me.  I'll  go  into  Wage's.  Don't  let 
Jack  see  you  if  you  can  help  it,  as  I  don't 
want  him  to  notice  me  with  you;  he  may 
become  suspicious." 

From  a  telephone  booth  I  noticed  how 
Jack  ordered  a  second  sundae,  and  how  the 
proprietary  dispenser  dexterously  added  a 
few  drops  from  a  vial  to  the  frozen 
melange,  which  instead  of  having  a  cool- 
ing effect,  brought  a  flush  to  the  cheeks, 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  103 

a  sparkle  to  the  eyes,  and  a  wag  to  the 
tongue  of  the  damsel. 

She  accordingly  did  not  require  more 
than  a  second  or  third  invitation  to  pass 
through  the  door  which  gave  access  to  the 
chop  suey,  and  where  I  also  joined  May 
after  I  had  donned  a  somewhat  hasty 
disguise. 

Jambon  had  chosen  the  chambre  adjoin- 
ing the  one  occupied  by  May,  and  as  Fujii 
passed  us,  I  noticed  that  he  carried  a 
large  bottle  of  champagne  in  a  pail  of  ice. 
The  conversation  and  giggling  of  the  girl 
grew  so  loud  that  I  could  plainly  hear 
every  word,  while  Jack's  voice  was  barely 
audible.  Finally  they  passed  us  on  their 
way  to  the  back  entrance  which  not  only 
gave  egress  to  the  vacant  block,  but  led 
to  the  basement,  as  did  the  iron  door  in 
the  lavatory. 

May  under  my  directions  hurriedly  paid 
for  our  repast,  and  we  left  by  the  front 
door.  I  told  her  to  go  up  to  Madame 
Coupler's  to  see  whether  they  had  gone  up 
there,  while  I  made  the  detour  of  the  build- 
ing and  posted  myself  at  the  periscope. 

I  had  not  long  to  wait.  Before  May 
rejoined  me,  Jack  and  the  girl  entered  the 
den.  The  glare  of  light  dazzled  her  for  a 
moment  and  she  put  up  her  hands.  Then 
she  glanced  around,  and  I  noticed  she  was 


104  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

now  pale  and  a  look  of  terror  suffused  her 
face. 

"Where  have  you  brought  me  to?  You 
said  you  were  taking  me  to  a  cabaret. 
Take  me  out  or  I'll  scream," 

Jack  laughed  contentedly. 

"Sit  down,  kid.  I  won't  kill  you.  I'll 
let  you  go  after  you've  loved  me,"  and  he 
attempted  to  take  her  hand. 

She  repulsed  him,  and  turned  her  wild 
eyes  towards  the  door,  but  the  exit  was 
barred. 

"Oh,  my  God,"  now  burst  from  her  blue 
lips.  "What  have  I  done?  Please  let  me 
go.  I'm  an  innocent  girl,"  and  she  held 
out  her  hands  supplicatingly  towards  her 
captor. 

He  seized  them  in  an  athletic  grasp  and 
drew  her  towards  him,  while  her  shrieks 
filled  my  ears. 

"Stay  here.  May,  and  listen  to  my  direc- 
tions!" 

I  sprang  to  my  feet,  and  hurried  into 
the  basement,  while  I  drew  a  black  hood 
over  my  head.  I  met  the  janitor  standing 
guard,  and  having  no  time  to  hypnotize 
him,  stunned  him  with  a  right  upper-cut. 
Then  I  took  the  keys  from  his  pocket  and 
made  my  way  to  the  den. 

As  I  flung  open  the  door,  I  noticed  that 
the  girl's  waist  had  been  torn  from  her 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  105 

shoulders,  and  there  were  several  scratches 
on  the  brute's  face.  He  wheeled  around 
and  faced  me. 

"Who  the  devil  are  you  ?"  he  hissed,  and, 
dropping  his  prey,  sprang  towards  me. 

I  was  ready  for  him  and  landed  a  power- 
ful punch  in  the  pit  of  his  stomach,  but 
he  was  an  expert  boxer  and  in  perfect  con- 
dition, and  as  he  doubled  up  managed  to 
grapple  with  me.  I  could  not  spring  back 
as  I  was  right  up  against  the  door.  We 
went  down  together,  while  the  hysterical 
girl  panted  in  utter  exhaustion : 

"Save  me!    Save  me!" 

He  had  caught  me  round  the  waist  and 
buried  his  head  into  my  chest.  My  hands 
were  free,  but  I  could  not  get  at  his  throat, 
and  his  hair  was  too  short  to  afford  a  firm 
grasp.  I  seized  his  ears,  and  tore  the  right 
one  off,  but  he  was  pressing  the  wind  out 
of  me,  although  I  held  him  under. 

How  the  struggle  would  have  ended  I  do 
not  know.  Probably  I  should  have  torn 
his  other  ear  off.  But  at  that  moment  I 
received  an  unexpected  ally.  May  rushed 
into  the  vault. 

"Pierce  his  hands,"  I  shouted. 

With  the  weapon  that  has  many  a  time 
drawn  blood  in  female  duels,  the  hat-pin 
that  in  Germany  must  be  sheathed  under 
penalty,  she  jabbed  his  hands  that  were 


106  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

exposed  on  my  back  until  I  felt  his  devilish 
tentacles  relax.  Then  with  a  sudden  effort, 
I  jerked  myself  free,  and  crashed  into  his 
face  with  both  my  fists.  Before  he  could 
recover,  I  had  him  on  his  face,  with  his 
arms  twisted  behind  his  back. 

"Run  up  and  fetch  me  that  rope  near 
the  periscope,"  I  commanded  May,  while  I 
sat  on  Jambon's  back. 

When  she  had  gone  I  addressed  myself 
to  the  girl. 

"Get  up,  you  idiot,  and  straighten  your 
dress." 

I  was  angry. 

"You  don't  deserve  to  be  saved,  getting 
into  a  stranger's  car  at  night,  going  to  a 
chop  suey  with  him,  getting  drunk  on 
champagne,  and  going  to  a  subterranean 
cabaret.  Get  up,  I  tell  you,  you  drivelling 
idiot." 

She  staggered  to  her  feet,  and  with 
weak,  trembling  fingers  adjusted  her  waist. 

"You  won't  take  me  to  prison,  will  you, 
Sir?"  she  whimpered.  "I'm  engaged,  and 
if  Tom  and  my  father  know  this,  they'll 
turn  me  out  of  the  house,  I'll  lose  my  job, 
and  Tom  won't  marry  me.  Please,  Sir, 
don't  take  me  to  prison,  and  I  won't  do  it 
again." 

"Oh,  so  you're  engaged,"  I  sneered,  but 
before  I  could  vent  my  sarcasm,  May  re- 
turned with  the  coil. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  107 

With  her  assistance,  I  bound  her  whilom 
lover's  hands  and  feet,  and  turned  him  on 
his  back. 

While  he  stared  at  her  with  his  bleared 
eyes,  I  bound  and  gagged  Righteous,  and 
then  returned  to  the  crypt. 

'•'So,  you're  engaged  to  Tom,"  I  snarled. 
"A  fine  girl  to  be  engaged  to  any  one! 
Do  you  hear  that  ?"  I  said  turning  to  Jack. 
"This  young  lady  that  so  lately  was  swill- 
ing your  champagne  is  engaged  to  Tom." 

I  laughed. 

"And  what's  Tom's  business,  and  what's 
your  business  ?"  I  demanded  sternly. 

She  burst  into  tears. 

•'Please,  Sir,  I  won't  do  it  again." 

"Answer  my  question,"  I  repeated 
harshly. 

"Tom's  a  salesman,  Sir,  and  I'm  a  sales- 
lady." 

"Lady,  lady!"  I  snapped.  "Lady  for- 
sooth! And  why  were  you  not  with  Tom 
to-night?" 

She  hesitated. 

"Answer  me,  or  to  jail  with  you  right 
away !" 

"Don't,  Sir,  I'll  answer  you.  I  was  mad 
with  him." 

"What  were  you  mad  about?" 

"He's  got  a  motor-cycle,  and  I'm  tired 
of  riding  behind  him,  and  asked  him  to 


108  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

hire  a  taxi  to-day,  and  he  said  it'd  cost 
too  much,  and  I  said  if  he  didn't  think  me 
worth  the  price  of  a  taxi,  I'd  get  some  one 
who  did.  But  please,  Sir,  I  didn't  mean 
it." 

"Oh,  no,  of  course  you  didn't,  Miss  sales- 
lady!  Did  you  hear  that,  Jack?  A  seat 
behind  her  future  husband  on  a  motor- 
cycle is  not  good  enough  for  a  sales  lady 
who  is  earning  seven  dollars  a  week.  She 
must  have  a  taxi!  Thirty  cents  a  mile! 
That's  why  you  gentlemen  land  your  fry  so 
easily.  A  taxi!  Instead  of  encouraging 
Tom  to  save  up  for  a  future  home,  she 
must  have  a  taxi,  our  saleslady!  And  she's 
only  a  type  of  your  American  lady!  I  ex- 
pect you  were  going  to  nag  Tom  to-morrow 
by  telling  him  you'd  been  round  the  boule- 
vards in  a  beautiful  car  with  this  hand- 
some young  gentleman. 

"That's  right !  That's  the  way  to  train 
your  future  husband !  Let  him  understand 
before  you're  married  that  you  intend 
having  a  good  time.  If  he  can't  afford  to 
satisfy  your  whims,  somebody  else  can. 
And  if  you  ruin  him  through  your  extrava- 
gance, or  if  he  can't  afford  to  fulfil  your 
every  desire,  and  even  should  be  so  bold 
as  to  refuse  to  live  beyond  his  means,  you 
can  sue  him  for  non-support  or  incompa- 
tibility of  temper,  and  some  idiotic  Yankee 
jury  will  grant  you  a  decree  nisi." 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  109 

I  paused  and  looked  into  the  sullen,  lack- 
lustre eyes  of  the  man  on  the  floor,  then 
at  the  two  girls  I  had  saved  from  his 
clutches. 

"And  now,  May,  I  want  you  to  do  some- 
thing more  for  me.  Before  I  entrust  this 
stupid  creature  to  your  care,  to  see  that 
she  gets  away  from  here  safe,  I  want  you 
to  go  up  to  Dr.  Pureheart's.  Tell  him 
Jack  wants  him,  and  to  bring  his  surgical 
instruments  with  him." 

"Won't  you  let  me  stay  and  see  what 
you  do  to  him?"  she  pleaded. 

"I'm  sorry,  May,  the  sight  will  not  be 
fit  for  your  eyes." 

"What  the  devil  do  you  mean?"  shouted 
Jambon. 

Without  heeding  him,  I  continued  speak- 
ing to  May: 

"Rest  assured  that  his  punishment  will 
be  just,  befitting  his  crimes,  and  rendering 
him  innocuous  for  all  time.  You  will  be 
amply  avenged. 

"But  stay  a  moment,  I  had  almost  for- 
gotten. Before  you  go  for  the  sanctimo- 
nious surgeon,  let  me  run  up  for  my  re- 
volver. The  Doctor  may  prove  obstrepe- 
rous." 

As  I  left  the  crypt,  I  passed  the  janitor, 
and  noticed  that  he  was  recovering  his 
senses.  I  stopped  to  hypnotize  him,  but  I 


110  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

did  not  loosen  his  bonds,  as  I  expected  the 
justice  meted  out  this  night  would  lead  to 
enquiries  and  reprisals.  Under  the  roof  I 
gave  a  hasty  look  at  my  periscopes,  and 
discovered  Pureheart  in  conversation  with 
Bloater,  the  banker,  and  with  Rattler.  I 
could  not  devote  more  than  a  passing 
glance  at  this  interesting  conference,  but 
I  determined  to  visit  the  saloon  as  soon  as 
I  was  through  with  my  present  task. 

When  I  returned  to  the  subterraneous 
part  of  this  mansion  of  machinations,  I 
warned  May  to  speak  to  the  leach  in 
private,  as  I  did  not  desire  any  other  wit- 
nesses to  our  court  of  last  resort. 

Soon  the  Doctor,  bearing  his  satchel  and 
rather  flurried,  was  ushered  into  our  midst 
by  May,  and  I  immediately  took  the  initi- 
ative in  regulating  his  conduct. 

"My  dear  Doctor,  your  friend  Jack  has 
met  with  a  rather  unusual  mutilation 
which  will  probably  be  followed  by  an 
amputation,"  I  said  rather  equivocally. 
"You  will  notice  that  he  has  lost  his  ear, 
and  I  should  like  you  to  patch  it  up  in  your 
most  skilful  fashion.  It  would  be  a  pity 
to  allow  such  a  handsome  fellow  to  remain 
disfigured  for  life." 

He  looked  at  me  dubiously. 

"Of  course,  I  trust  we  shall  not  be  com- 
pelled to  have  a  perforation  also,"  I  added 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  111 

sharply,  drawing  my  revolver  and  dangling 
it  with  the  muzzle  towards  him. 

He  seized  my  meaning,  and  immediately 
set  to  work  in  silence  to  wash  and  bandage 
the  prostrate  prisoner.  While  he  worked, 
I  spoke  to  May  in  a  low  voice: 

"Take  this  girl  home,  and  you  had  better 
stay  at  home  yourself  for  a  few  days  or 
go  out  of  town.  If  Steel  gets  hold  of  you, 
he'll  put  you  through  the  third  degree,  but 
whatever  happens,  don't  say  a  word  about 
this  evening's  affair." 

I  raised  my  hood  slightly  and  kissed  her 
on  the  lips.  A  flush  of  happiness  spread 
over  her  pale  face  which  was  now  devoid 
of  any  makeup,  and  I  knew  that  she  would 
suffer  the  last  torment  rather  than  disclose 
anything.  Then  I  spoke  aloud,  so  that  the 
Doctor  and  Jambon  might  hear  me: 

"Take  this  girl  home.  If  I  had  not 
caught  sight  of  her  entering  this  accursed 
den,  God  knows  what  would  have  happened 
to  her.  If  I  did  not  wish  to  keep  her  name 
unsullied,  I  should  deliver  this  whole  damn- 
able gang  into  the  hands  of  the  police. 
But  I  wish  to  save  her  father  and  mother 
the  shame  of  having  a  daughter  who  could 
accept  this  hound's  overtures.  If  anything 
happens  to  you,  however,  I  shall  not  hesi- 
tate a  moment,  but  expose  the  whole  ring. 
If  you  had  not  told  me  what  he  had  done 


112  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

to  you  and  what  he  would  probably  do  to 
this  girl,  when  I  asked  you  who  they  were, 
she  would  probably  have  shared  your  fate. 
You  did  right  to  tell  me,  and  I  am  thank- 
ful that  I  was  near  to  enable  you  to  have 
him  punished.  God  bless  you,  and  now, 
Good-night!" 

I  gave  vent  to  these  falsehoods  aloud  in 
the  hope  that  they  would  protect  May  and 
put  the  sleuth  off  the  scent.  The  girl, 
however,  might  have  spoilt  my  scheme  for 
she  wished  to  say  something  and  tried  to 
fall  at  my  feet,  but  May,  seizing  the  drift 
of  my  intentions,  dragged  her  away,  and 
that  was  the  last  I  saw  of  her. 

As  soon  as  they  were  gone,  I  spoke  again 
to  the  Doctor: 

"My  dear  Doctor,  I  note  you  have  made 
a  good  job  of  it.  You  are  a  skilful  surgeon, 
and  I  have  heard  that  you  are  also  a 
philanthropist  and  a  writer  in  the  daily 
Press.  No  doubt  you  have  read  Othello 
and  remember  the  line : 

"'To  beguile  many  and  be  beguiled  by 
one.' 

"That  is  exactly  your  position  at  the 
present  time. 

"You  stand  in  the  presence  of  an  im- 
placable judge,  and  you  are  to  be  the 
executioner  of  his  behests. 

"I  am  to-night  also  to  play  the  role  of 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  113 

Shylock  and  demand  literally  a  pound  of 
flesh,  but  there  will  be  this  difference:  my 
demand  will  be  complied  with,  thanks  to 
.your  panurgy  and  obedience  to  the  dictates 
of  justice. 

"You  are  well  acquainted  with  all  the 
tenets  of  eugenics,  and  are  no  doubt  able 
to  apply  them.  If  you  were  writing  for 
the  daily  Press,  you  would  surely  argue 
that  we  have  here  a  fitting  object  for  their 
application,  but  between  ourselves  you 
must  admit  that,  if  our  friend  were  ever 
arraigned  before  the  most  eugenic  tribunal 
in  the  United  States,  your  code  would 
never  condemn  him  to  suffer  the  eugenic 
ordeal,  though  he  is  more  potent  to  pro- 
pagate his  criminal  instincts  than  the 
thief,  drunkard,  or  murderer.  His  sole 
profession  is  the  instilling  of  his  vile  pas- 
sions into  posterity,  therefore  he,  more 
than  all  others,  is  the  fit  mark  for  the 
eugenic  code. 

"You  see,  my  dear  Doctor,  that  in  my 
role  of  public  prosecutor,  I  am  determined 
to  satisfy  your  every  qualm  of  conscience, 
and  allow  you  to  justify  your  act  on  the 
principle  of  undefiled  justice. 

"And  now,"  I  said,  turning  to  Jambon, 
"is  there  any  reason  why  this  sentence 
should  not  be  passed  upon  you?  You 
understand  the  nature  of  the  verdict,  and 


114  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

the  court  is  prepared  to  listen  to  your 
defence." 

"Curse  you,  and  damn  you,  whoever  you 
are,"  he  said  between  his  teeth.  Then  he 
turned  to  the  Doctor: 

"Don't  do  it,  Pureheart.  I'll  give  you 
all  you  ask.  I'll  give  you  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  If  you  only  cut  these  cursed 
ropes  and  let  me  get  at  the  devil!  Hun- 
dred thousand!" 

"The  bait  is  very  tempting,"  I  remarked, 
addressing  the  Doctor,  "but  I  hardly  think 
you  will  allow  yourself  to  be  bribed,  even 
by  a  million  dollars.  I  will  tell  you  why. 

"You  have  applied  your  science  to  mak- 
ing Nature  barren,  its  fruit  an  abortion," 
I  said  pointedly. 

"You  see,  I  know  something  of  your 
practice,  and  if  that  argument  is  not  suf- 
ficient, I  have  one  that  cannot  be  gainsaid." 

I  raised  the  revolver  and  pointed  it  di- 
rectly between  his  eyes.  He  cowered. 

"Besides,"  I  added,  "you  will  be  doing 
your  friend  a  service.  If  you  refuse,  I 
shall  execute  the  sentence  myself,  but  as 
I  have  not  the  skill  that  you  have,  my 
worthy  Doctor,  it  is  very  probable  the 
culprit  will  succumb. 

"You  will  see  the  time  has  arrived  for 
you  to  make  your  practice  co-educational, 
and  apply  your  methods  to  the  sterner  sex. 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  115 

"The  aim  of  your  reformers  is  to  make 
degenerates  innocuous  to  posterity.  You 
shall  do  more,  and  make  this  beast  impo- 
tent towards  his  contemporaries  and  to- 
wards himself,  a  monstrosity  in  his  own 
eyes. 

"Please  take  hold  of  his  shoulders,  and 
I'll  take  hold  of  his  legs  with  one  hand,  so 
that  my  other  hand  may  be  free  to  per- 
form the  necessary  perforation,  if  required. 
Now  lift  him  on  to  the  bed,  and  tie  him 
down,  so  that  his  movements  may  not 
interfere  with  the  operation." 

Jambon  shouted  and  cursed,  reiterated 
his  offer  in  ever  increasing  glamour, 
struggled,  and  supplicated,  but  the  fear  of 
imminent  death  was  greater  than  the  lure 
of  proximate  pelf. 

"I  hope  I  am  explicit  enough.  If  I  am 
not,  I  shall  direct  you  more  minutely. 
Take  your  knife  and  sponge.  I  am  unable 
to  help  you,  as  I  have  my  revolver  to  hold." 

Then  the  Doctor  spoke  for  the  first  and 
last  time  that  evening. 

"He  may  bleed  to  death,  and  I'll  be 
accused  of  murder.  Shall  I  administer  an 
anaesthetic  ?" 

"No,  use  a  local  astringent.  He's  too 
young  and  strong  to  die,  and  you're  not 
fool  enough  to  kill  him.  Begin!" 

In  a  few  minutes  the  sentence  had  been 
executed. 


116  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"My  dear  Doctor,  allow  me  to  congratu- 
late you  on  your  professional  dexterity. 
I  shall  now  leave  you  here  to  take  care  of 
the  patient.  You  won't  mind  my  locking 
you  in.  A  few  hours'  rest  will  do  you  a 
world  of  good  after  your  strenuous  exer- 
tion. I  am  leaving  for  New  York  immedi- 
ately, and  if  they  have  not  found  you  by 
morning,  I  shall  have  taken  the  precaution 
to  send  a  wire  to  the  drug-store  upstairs 
apprising  them  of  your  devotion  to  the 
patient." 

The  Doctor  looked  concerned. 

"I  won't  leave  you  and  your  friend  here 
to  die.  There's  lots  of  water,  and  a  cook- 
ing-range I  see,  and  some  bottles  of  beer, 
and  biscuits.  That'll  suffice  for  a  few 
hours. 

"I  trust  I  shall  not  be  recalled  from  New 
York. 

"Good-night!" 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  117 


VI. 
PETROMORTIS. 

I  did  not  go  to  New  York,  but  simply 
went  upstairs,  doffed  my  disguise,  and 
entered  Rattler's  saloon. 

I  may  safely  affirm  that  I  have  not  been 
in  a  saloon  more  than  half  a  dozen  times 
in  my  life.  If  a  visitor  from  some  other 
planet  were  constrained  to  compile  a  classi- 
fication of  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  if  he  were  shown  a  saloon, 
man  would  be  placed  at  the  bottom  of  his 
categories. 

"0  that  men  should  put  an  enemy  in 
their  mouths  to  steal  away  their  brains!" 

The  foul  stench,  lewd  oaths,  and  dis- 
torted visages  nauseated  me;  and  I  began 
to  doubt  the  truth  of  a  friend's  epigram: 

"It  is  not  the  weakness  of  the  toper,  but 
the  strength  of  the  trust,  that  we  have  to 
fight." 

But  I  tried  to  suggest  this  away  from 
me  by  concentrating  my  mind  on  my  pur- 
pose. 

Before    ordering    a    mineral    water,    I 


118  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

looked  around,  ostensibly  in  search  of  some 
one,  and  fortunately  espied  Yvette.  Ma- 
dame Coupler  had  introduced  us,  but  I  had 
never  yet  had  an  opportunity  to  broach  my 
idea  of  sending  her  into  the  country  as  my 
friend's  lady's  maid. 

She  was  typically  French;  pale,  regular 
features;  large,  dark  eyes;  black  hair, 
brilliantined  and  dressed  close  to  her  head, 
instead  of  dry  and  fluffy  in  the  predomi- 
nant style;  of  medium  height;  restless, 
rounded  figure  that  showed  to  advantage 
in  her  tight  fitting  costume;  chic  and 
vivacious.  Yet,  with  the  unmistakable 
marks  of  the  demi-mondaine,  there  were 
lines  of  suffering  and  spirituality  around 
her  eyes  and  mouth. 

I  addressed  her  in  her  native  tongue, 
and  was  immediately  admitted  into  her 
good  graces.  When  I  made  my  proposi- 
tion to  her,  her  expressive  eyes  filled  with 
tears,  and  she  caught  my  hand  and  kissed 
it. 

"You  don't  know,  Monsieur,  how  much 
I  should  like  to  escape  from  this  life.  I 
had  heard  so  much  about  American  men, 
their  chivalry,  and  the  way  they  treated 
women,  that  I  thought  I  should  find  some 
sentiment  among  them,  and  give  at  least 
one  of  them  my  love.  But  they  are  all 
brutes,  pigs,  selfish  voluptuaries,  without 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  119 

the  semblance  of  chivalry  towards  us 
women.  It  is  all  hypocrisy ;  their  affection 
even  to  their  wives  is  mere  calculation ;  and 
I  know  it,  if  any  one  does.  He  gives  her 
wealth,  because  he  wants  her  to  make  a 
show,  not  out  of  unselfish  love.  She  im- 
agines that  she  is  master,  but  she  is  wrong, 
stupidly  wrong.  She  can  do  what  she  likes, 
because  the  American  husband  doesn't  care 
what  she  does.  *  A  Frenchman  really  loves 
his  wife,  and  because  he  loves  her,  he 
cares  what  she  does,  and  is  interested  in 
giving  her  advice ;  and  because  we  French- 
women appreciate  this  love,  we  feel  that 
our  husband's  love  is  proved  by  this  show 
of  executive  control.  This  does  not  mean 
that  we  are  slaves.  Far  from  it.  More 
French  than  American  wives  share  in 
their  husbands'  business  affairs,  and  any 
psychologist  will  tell  you  that  this  would 
be  impossible  if  there  were  not  true  chiv- 
alry. 

"Then  compare  the  respect  we  show  our 
parents,  the  affection  between  members  of 
the  same  family,  with  the  insolence  of 
American  children  towards  their  fathers, 
mothers,  brothers,  and  sisters. 

'•They  judge  us  by  the  immorality  that 
prevails  in  Paris  among  certain  classes, 
mostly  foreigners.  But  you  have  lived  in 
France,  and  know  that  the  French  are  as 


120  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

virtuous  as  any  other  race.  What  im- 
morality exists  is  human.  Compare  it  with 
the  brutal  bestiality  of  American  cities.  I 
know  it,  mon  Dieu!  In  quantity  and  kind, 
the  Americans  have  us  beat,  as  they  say 
here;  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  meet  an 
American  in  Paris  to  know  what  he,  or 
for  the  matter  of  that,  what  she,  is  capable 
of. 

"Oui,  Monsieur,  I  shall  thank  God  to  get 
out  of  it,  and  earn  a  respectable  living,  and 
shall  always  be  grateful  to  you  for  helping 
me." 

"I  see  you  are  a  philosopher,  and  I  can 
endorse  all  you  say.  But  the  American 
men  are  only  what  the  women  have  made 
them. 

"I  have  noticed  that  parvenus,  from 
Rabbis  to  Oriental  rug  dealers,  have  noth- 
ing but  unstinted  eulogy  for  the  American 
women.  American  women  made  them,  and 
lined  their  pockets.  The  appreciation  of 
anything  by  an  American  woman  is,  there- 
fore, its  condemnation,  for  they  are  super- 
ficial, without  judgment,  mere  tinsel,  and 
fitting  wives  for  the  husbands  you  have 
so  aptly  described. 

"The  men  who  praise  American  wives 
are  not  their  husbands. 

"When  a  wife  has  interests  distinct  from 
those  of  her  husband,  they  must  naturally 
drift  apart. 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  121 

"One  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
divorces  in  one  year — that  is  the  record 
of  the  American  women's  efficiency  as 
wives.  They  look  upon  marriage  as  the 
men  look  upon  the  State — as  an  object  of 
graft.  The  husband  is  manipulated  as  a 
slot-machine  to  supply  dresses,  limousines, 
opera  boxes,  and  trips  to  the  Old  World; 
and  nothing  is  even  reciprocated,  not  even 
the  atmosphere  of  a  home. 

"They  want  to  'express  themselves,'  and 
they  exude  nothing  but  egregious  efflu- 
vium! 

"The  men  have  indolently  entrusted  to 
them  the  national  culture,  and  what  have 
they  made  of  it?  Take  American  litera- 
ture! A  well-known  detractor  of  the 
American  female  has  put  it  tersely  as  fol- 
lows: 

"'I  can  only  see  that  it  is  the  echo  and 
the  mirror  of  the  'active  and  interested' 
New  York  woman.  An  eclecticism  which 
stumbles  over  its  own  feet,  a  faddism 
which  believes  every  week  in  another 
panacea,  a  sensationalism  of  the  lowest 
type,  and  a  conventionalism  of  the  highest 
type — that  is  American  literature,  made 
by  women!' 

"Of  education  she  has  made  a  mere 
means  of  mercenary  and  meretricious 
coxcombery. 


122  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"She  'disdains  the  shadow  which  she 
treads  on  at  noon/ 

"Her  unrestrained  striving  to  have  her 
doings  and  her  picture  blazoned  to  the  rest 
of  the  world  through  her  putrid  Press  and 
at  her  soidisant  social  functions,  have 
banished  discipline  and  self-control  from 
the  vocabulary  of  the  American  pupil. 

"The  murder  rate  of  this  country  is  124 
per  million  men,  as  against  12  in  Switzer- 
land, and  15  to  20  in  the  rest  of  Europe. 
What  is  the  cause  of  this  but  lack  of  disci- 
pline and  self-control?  This  may  sound 
farfetched,  but  I  say  it  on  the  authority 
of  Maj.-Gen.  Leonard  Wood. 

"But  this  is  not  the  place  to  enter  into 
a  discussion  of  this  nature.  Please  tell 
me  who  those  two  men  are?"  I  remarked 
innocently. 

"They  are  types  of  American  men.  The 
podgy  one  is  Bloater,  the  banker;  the  big, 
fat,  red  tun  is  Rattler,  the  publican.  They 
just  stood  me  a  drink  in  honor  of  their 
latest  trade.  A  maquereau  is  going  to 
bring  Bloater  a  girl  from  New  York  to- 
morrow night,  but  he's  afraid  to  pay  the 
money  direct,  so  Rattler's  the  fixer.  He 
gets  $500.  One  hundred  stick  to  his  fingers, 
two  hundred  go  to  Steel  for  protection  or 
as  his  share  of  this  stew,  and  the  balance 
goes  to  the  entremetteur.  But  of  course 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  123 

Bloater  doesn't  know  this;  he  thinks  the 
whole  five  hundred  are  paid  over. 

"I  feel  sorry  for  the  girl.  They  usually 
spy  her  when  she  lands,  or  even  have 
agents  that  travel  back  and  forth,  follow 
her  to  a  rooming-house,  recommend  her  to 
an  employment  agency,  where  they  go  and 
engage  her  for  a  position  that  does  not 
exist  in  some  other  city.  Some  woman 
then  brings  the  unsuspicious  victim  to  a 
Madame  Coupler's,  and  there  she  is  broken 
in  and  broken  to  bits  till  she  is  unable  to 
reconstitute  herself,  and  fight.  That's 
how  they  caught  me.  We  either  die  or  are 
killed,  or  our  bodies  and  minds  are  so 
perverted  that  we  have  not  the  organism 
or  will  to  revert  to  normality. 

"I've  tried,  mon  Dieu,  more  than  once, 
but  they  always  brought  me  back.  When 
I  told  my  story,  the  judge  laughed  at  me, 
the  tecs  said  I  was  a  liar.  I  tried  to  poison 
myself,  but  the  tecs  saved  my  life;  they 
said  they  could  not  afford  to  lose  50  per- 
cent of  my  takings.  Even  the  street  car 
men  that  rob  their  companies  of  more  than 
they  earn  and  that  are  in  the  pay  of  pick- 
pockets for  allowing  them  to  hunt  for 
prospects  on  crowded  cars,  testified  that 
I  Tiad  solicited  on  the  cars,  though  I  swear 
that  I  never  solicited  in  my  life.  Steel 
shares  with  a  lot  of  them,  and  he  put  them 


124  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

up  to  this,  because  I  had  to  take  the  car 
regularly. 

"I  have  prayed  every  night  that  God 
might  kill  me  or  let  me  starve  to  death, 
but  I  can't  die.  Sometimes  I  have  wished 
to  kill  some  one  that  I  might  be  hanged, 
or  steal  something  that  I  might  go  to 
prison,  but  I  can't  commit  any  other  sins 
besides  the  one  I  was  forced  to,  and  am 
not  allowed  to  quit.  Steel  always  tells  me 
that  he  can't  afford  to  let  me  die  or  go 
to  the  pen." 

"You  are  not  going  to  die  yet,  Yvette, 
and  if  you  have  the  courage,  we'll  save 
this  girl  you  speak  of  and  get  even  with 
your  tormentors." 

"You  don't  know  the  men  who  own  this 
block.  They  are  like  Caesar's  wife,  above 
suspicion." 

"Never  fear,  we  shall  not  invoke  the 
assistance  of  the  law,  we  shall  take  the 
law  into  our  own  hands.  If  they  bring  her 
to  Coupler's,  let  me  know." 

"I  don't  think  they'll  take  her  upstairs 
for  a  few  weeks,  they'll  hide  her  in  the 
basement  where  we  can't  get  at  her." 

"I'll  get  at  her,  and  all  you  have  to  do 
is  to  go  up  to  Coupler's  and  tell  her  that 
some  fellow  is  going  to  take  you  on  a  trip 
to-morrow  night.  Get  your  things  ready, 
and  when  I  have  the  girl,  I'll  hand  her 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  125 

over  to  you,  and  you  can  take  her  with 
you  to  my  friend's.  Ring  me  up  to-morrow 
night  at  ten  o'clock,  but  don't  use  a  phone 
in  this  block ;  all  the  wires  are  tapped,  and 
don't  mention  any  names;  they've  several 
girls  at  Central.  Now,  don't  forget,  take 
all  your  valuables,  but  leave  something,  so 
that  they  may  think  you're  coming  back. 
Bonne  nuit,  et  Dieu  te  garde!" 

The  following  night  I  waited  impatiently 
to  hear  the  phone  bell.  At  last  it  came: 

"Hello!" 

"Oui?" 

"She's  not  here,  and  there's  been  a  big 
row." 

"I  dare  say.     Come  along  quick." 

When  Yvette  arrived,  I  introduced  her 
to  the  Russian  girl  I  had  rescued  an  hour 
previously,  and  whom  I  had  already  dis- 
guised in  a  suit  of  my  own.  I  had  simply 
put  the  janitor  to  sleep,  and  taken  her  out 
of  the  crypt. 

"Now  tell  me  about  the  big  row." 

"Steel  is  there.  It  seems  he  was  out 
of  town  and  Pureheart  was  trying  to  get 
in  touch  with  him  all  the  day.  He  got 
there  at  nine  o'clock  and  while  he  was  with 
the  doctor,  Bloater  rushed  in  and  started 
to  shout,  then  Rattler  came,  and  Steel  sent 
for  Righteous  and  Speedway.  After  half 


126  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

killing  Righteous,  Speedway  took  him 
away  in  a  machine.  Now  they've  got 
detectives  all  round  the  block,  and  I  was 
afraid  to  take  my  grips,  and  came  along 
just  as  I  am.  Mon  Dieu,  mon  Dieu!  I'm 
scared  to  death." 

"You  must  leave  Chicago  at  once  with 
this  girl,  but  you  can't  go  to  the  depot,  as 
they'll  be  watching  them  all.  One  of  them 
has  probably  followed  you  here.  Go  down 
the  back  stairs  and  along  the  alley  till  you 
reach  the  street  car;  take  that  as  far  as 
the  L,and  ride  till  you  strike  the  Milwaukee 
Electric.  Take  the  train  at  Milwaukee. 
Here's  $100,  and  get  into  this  rain-coat, 
and  put  this  veil  over  your  face.  Come 
along!" 

I  continued  my  instructions  as  I  led  them 
to  the  street  car  and  saw  them  safely  on 
it,  then  I  made  my  way  to  the  front  of 
the  flat  where  I  had  been  given  the  hos- 
pitality of  a  friend's  room  for  the  evening 
only. 

The  fight  had  begun.  The  flat  was  being 
watched.  In  about  fifteen  minutes  two 
other  detectives,  who  had  probably  been 
summoned  by  phone,  dashed  up  in  a  ma- 
chine, and  after  a  hurried  conference,  one 
left  with  the  car,  and  the  other  worked  his 
way  to  the  rear  of  the  flat.  I  had  no  fear 
that  either  of  them  would  gain  much  in- 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  127 

formation,  as  my  friend  had  been  warned, 
no  one  had  seen  us  come  or  go,  and  I  had 
means  of  communicating  with  my  friend 
without  having  to  see  him  for  months. 

Reassured  in  this  direction,  I  took  the 
street  car  back  to  the  Block.  I  was  not 
concerned  about  May,  as  she  was  on  her 
way  to  Boston  to  stay  with  an  aunt,  and 
intended  entering  a  nursing  school  there. 

I  walked  boldly  into  the  chop  suey  with- 
out giving  a  glance  around,  as  I  knew  any 
curiosity  on  my  part  would  be  instantly 
detected.  Calls  was  sitting  alone  at  a 
table  suffering  from  nostalgia. 

"Have  you  seen  May?"  I  inquired. 

"No,  I  haven't  seen  her,  and  I  wanted 
to.  I  haven't  seen  anybody.  I've  been 
looking  for  Yvette  too,  and  Jack.  When 
I  went  up  to  Madame's,  she  wouldn't  let 
me  in,  she  said  she  wasn't  running  a  lying- 
in  hospital.  I  think  I'd  better  jump  into 
the  lake,  and  have  done  with  it." 

"Why,  what  about  Steel?" 

"Told  me  to  go  to  the  devil.  I'd  like  to 
take  him  with  me.  After  giving  him  all 
I  have,  he  has  me  turned  out  of  Coupler's. 
The  only  return  for  my  love  was  advice  to 
see  Pureheart,  and  the  dirty  doctor  sent 
me  to  Innocent's,  because  he  knows  that 
I  can't  pay  and  Steel  won't.  If  I  don't  see 
Innocent  on  Thursday  night,  it's  the  Lake 
for  me." 


128  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

"I  shouldn't  commit  suicide  or  see  In- 
nocent, if  I  were  you." 

"Oh,  I  expect  you  want  me  to  hold  a 
baby  on  one  arm,  and  operate  the  switch- 
board with  the  other?" 

"Perhaps  some  friends  would  help  you 
to  find  another  position?  I  know  some 
people  who  would  be  only  too  glad  to  assist 
you,  and  then  he  ought  to  be  made  to 
marry  you." 

She  laughed. 

"Be  made  to  marry  me !  Why,  it's  too 
stupid  to  even  mention.  Steel  be  made  to 
marry  me !  He'd  find  a  hundred  witnesses 
to  swear  that  he's  a  monk,  a  celibate,  an 
ascetic,  a  virgin,  or  whatever  you  call  it, 
and  that  I'm  just  the  opposite.  Thank 
you  just  the  same.  I  don't  want  to  carry 
my  shame  around  in  my  arms,  or  take 
charity  from  women  who  consider  me  an 
inferior  animal,  because  they  can  force  the 
men  they  love  to  marry  them,  and  I  can't. 
I  wouldn't  be  in  this  condition  now,  if  I 
hadn't  believed  that  Steel  would  marry  me. 
No!  No  fatherless  children  for  me!  No 
husbandless  motherhood  for  Calls!  In- 
nocent or  the  Lake!" 

"I'm  sorry  for  you,  Calls,  and  will  see 
you  again  before  Thursday  night." 

"You  needn't  see  me  to  try  and  change 
my  mind,"  she  interrupted ;  "it's  settled." 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  129 

While  this  conversation  was  in  progress, 
I  had  been  looking  around  the  chop  suey 
to  see  if  I  could  discover  any  of  Steel's  men. 
I  did  not  notice  any  one  that  looked  like  a 
detective,  but  of  course  there  might  have 
been  one  in  one  of  the  cha/mbres.  Fujii 
usually  kept  as  far  as  possible  from  me 
whenever  I  honored  his  place  with  my 
presence,  and  I  failed  to  discover  him. 

In  the  affairs  of  my  life,  I  have  often 
been  compelled  to  run  great  risks,  and 
experience  has  taught  me  that  the  greater 
it  be,  the  more  likelihood  is  there  of  it's 
proving  a  success.  I  was  now  forced  to 
take  one  of  these  customary  chances.  I 
was  convinced  that  the  basement  and  all 
the  first  floor  was  scrupulously  guarded, 
and  that  any  investigation  in  that  direction 
would  be  immediately  detected.  The  second 
floor  had  hitherto  been  immune  against  my 
reformatory  depredations,  and  as  the  dic- 
tator of  the  delators  was  probably  engaged 
there  in  devious  devices,  his  myrmidons 
would  no  doubt  consider  him  well  able  to 
take  care  of  himself,  and  leave  the  second 
floor  without  surveillance.  I  have  already 
described  four  doors  of  the  chop  suey; 
there  was  a  fifth  that  led  to  the  central 
hall  where  the  stairways  of  the  basement 
and  the  second  floor  were  situated.  If 
these  stairways  were  watched,  my  plan 


130  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

would  of  course  fail,  but  I  argued  that  a 
man  would  be  placed  at  each  of  the  outside 
doors,  and  perhaps  below  in  the  basement, 
if  Steel  trusted  them,  and  that  I  could 
hurry  upstairs  from  the  chop  suey  without 
being  noticed.  If  I  was  noticed,  I  would 
simply  walk  out  of  the  building ;  if  caught 
on  the  second  floor,  I  should  walk  into  the 
clairvoyant's. 

Fortune  favored  me,  and  I  reached  the 
back  balcony  without  mishap.  Now  the 
perilous  part  of  my  peregrination  began. 
If  caught  scaling  to  the  roof,  I  knew  no 
questions  would  be  asked,  and  it  would 
mean  two  drops  of  fourteen  feet  each,  and 
the  rapidity  and  certainty  of  my  magazine 
revolver,  to  save  my  life. 

Ah  well !  Death  has  no  terrors  for  me. 
I  have  been  a  spiritualist  all  my  life,  and 
know  what  to  expect. 

Breathing  a  silent  prayer,  I  ran  up  the 
ladder  and  stretched  myself  flat  on  the  roof 
ready  to  spring  as  a  cat  at  a  bird.  Not 
hearing  anything  to  arrest  my  progress,  I 
crept  along  the  parapet  as  usual  and  was 
soon  above  Madame  Coupler's  number 
eight. 

There  they  were  in  violent  altercation, 
Steel,  Bloater,  Rattler,  and  Pureheart! 

"I  don't  care  a ,"  shouted  Bloater. 

"If  the  same  fellow  that  did  for  Jack 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  131 

swiped  my  piece,  and  you  won't  fork  out 
the  five  hundred,  I  want  that  hundred 
thousand  loan  back.  The  game's  up  in 
this  block,  and  I  don't  want  to  run  any 
risks.  It's  ready  to  foreclose,  anyway, 
and  if  I  don't  get  the  money  back  to- 
morrow, I'm  going  to  sell  this  building." 

"Now  don't  be  a  darned  fool,"  growled 
Steel.  "You  know  I  can't  raise  that  much 
to-morrow ;  besides,  I  don't  believe  the  guy 
that's  operating  against  us  wants  to  bring 
it  to  a  show-down,  or  he'd  go  about  it 
differently.  Then  you  agreed  to  renew  the 
mortgage  for  another  five  years." 

"I  won't  renew  it  for  five  days,"  snapped 
the  podgey  banker.  "I'll  have  all  the  papers 
here  to-morrow  night,  and  surrender  them 
on  payment  of  $100,000;  if  it's  not  paid, 
I'll  foreclose  the  next  day,  and  that's  all 
there's  to  it." 

With  this  parting  ultimatum,  the  banker 
wheeled  out  of  the  room,  and  left  the  trio 
to  discuss  ways  and  means. 

While  they  were  still  pondering  their 
dilemma,  Speedway  returned. 

"He's  safe  now,  and  there's  no  fear  of 
his  squealing.  I  told  Bill  to  crack  him  on 
the  nut  if  he  tried  to  take  a  vacation. 
What  you  all  looking  so  glum  about?" 

Rattler  imparted  Bloater's  threat.  The 
garageur  took  on  the  dejected  mien  of  the 


132  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

others,  but  not  for  long.  Suddenly  he 
broke  out: 

"I'll  fix  him!  What'll  you  give  me  to 
settle  his  hash,  Steel,  and  get  all  the  papers 
from  him  ?" 

"How'll  you  do  it?" 

He  lowered  his  voice  and  propounded  his 
scheme,  but  I  could  not  catch  a  single  word. 

Finally  Steel  raised  his  voice  and  said: 

"If  I  get  that  mortgage  back  without 
having  to  pay  a  cent,  and  nothing  happens 
to  this  block,  I'll  give  you  twenty  thousand 
bucks." 

"It's  a  bargain,  give  us  your  hand  on  it, 
and  you  two  are  witnesses.  But,  wait  a 
bit,"  he  continued  warily;  "suppose  you 
turn  on  me  some  day,  I  won't  be  able  to 
say  a  word.  Give  it  us  in  writing,  so  I'll 
have  proof  you  knew  what  the  game  was, 
and  that'll  make  you  an  accomplice  or  ac- 
cessory, as  the  cops  say." 

The  stake  was  big,  and  the  detective 
could  not  afford  to  demur.  Speedway 
wrote  the  paper,  Steel  signed  it,  and  the 
other  two  were  compelled  to  witness  it, 
though  the  Doctor  made  strenuous  objec- 
tions to  affixing  his  signature. 

After  some  further  talk  concerning  Jack, 
May,  Righteous,  the  vanishing  of  their 
latest  victim,  which  the  banker  had  dis- 
covered as  soon  as  he  entered  the  cell  at 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  133 

9  o'clock,  and  Steel's  remark  that  he 
wished  he  could  get  rid  of  Calls  as  easily 
as  of  Bloater  when  she  visited  Innocent  on 
Thursday  night,  the  powwow  prorogued. 

As  I  did  not  wish  to  risk  my  neck  or 
unbored  body  twice  in  one  night,  I  stayed 
where  I  was,  sleeping  the  whole  night  and 
the  better  part  of  the  following  day.  As 
soon  as  it  grew  dark  enough,  and  under 
cover  of  a  heavy  thunder-storm  that  was 
raging  over  the  city,  I  slid  down  the  way 
I  had  come,  and  slunk  into  the  garage.  A 
number  of  passers-by  were  taking  shelter 
from  the  rain,  so  my  advent  did  not  cause 
any  comment,  and  I  wandered  about, 
casually  looking  at  the  machines. 

The  rear  part  of  the  garage,  on  either 
side  of  the  back  entrance,  contained  two 
smaller  rooms.  One  of  these  was  locked, 
and  I  surmised  that  it  contained  stores; 
the  door  of  the  other  stood  wide  open,  and 
I  noticed  that  it  could  be  used  as  a  garage. 
Near  this  latter  stood  a  heavy  touring 
machine  which  had  a  large  receptacle  for 
baggage  at  the  back.  As  no  one  was  near, 
I  raised  the  lid,  and  crawled  in.  There  was 
ample  room  for  my  small  proportions,  and 
I  immediately  set  to  work  and  bored  sever- 
al holes  for  air  and  observation. 

As  the  rain  abated,  the  garage  was 
vacated,  until  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  re- 


134  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

mained  alone,  but  evidently  I  was  mis- 
taken. 

At  eleven  o'clock  a  machine  drove  into 
the  garage  and  I  heard  the  doors  close, 
then  Speedway's  voice: 

"Bring  her  up  here,  Bloater,  and  we'll 
take  some  of  the  mud  off." 

I  saw  the  car  go  into  the  room  I  have 
described,  the  dim  lights  were  extin- 
guished, and  Speedway  slammed  the  door. 
The  lights  in  the  central  garage  went  out. 
I  could  now  see  nothing  and  heard  only 
the  violent  throb  of  the  machine.  Then  I 
caught  the  shout  of  the  banker  and  his 
blows  on  the  door.  In  five  minutes  they 
ceased,  and  only  the  throb  of  the  motor 
reached  my  ears. 

It  must  have  been  half  an  hour  later 
that  I  heard  the  door  open  and  saw  the 
light  in  the  smaller  garage  turned  on 
again.  Then  there  was  another  interval 
of  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  I  saw  the 
garageur  enter  step  by  step,  and  I  immedi- 
ately sprang  out  of  my  lair,  before  he  had 
time  to  test  the  air  and  stop  the  whirr  of 
the  engine. 

While  he  bent  over  the  prostrate  figure 
of  the  banker  and  extracted  the  papers 
from  his  pockets,  I  crept  forward  on  my 
rubber  shoes,  but  he  must  have  heard  me, 
for  he  raised  his  head  and  turned  towards 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  135 

me.  I  sprang  at  him  and  stunned  him 
with  a  piece  of  rubber  tyre.  Then  I  took 
all  the  papers  I  could  find  on  both  of  them, 
and  stopped  to  view  the  dead  banker. 

Petromortis  is  the  death  that  wears  the 
livery  of  life.  It  kills  with  a  touch  as  light 
as  thistle  down,  and  leaves  the  dead  with 
the  flush  of  counterfeit  life  upon  brow  and 
cheek. 

Due  to  the  non-oxydation  of  some  of  the 
elements  of  gasoline,  the  lethal  fumes  or 
splitting  products  of  benzine  escape  from 
the  exhaust  of  every  running  automobile. 
In  the  open  air,  where  a  motorist  inhales 
but  a  whiff  or  two,  it  is  not  dangerous.  In 
a  closed  garage  it  kills  almost  instantane- 
ously. 

The  banker,  liable  to  vertigo,  had  no 
chance  for  his  life.  He  was  almost  im- 
mediately overcome  and  asphyxiated,  and 
died  of  cerebral  hemorrhage  or  brain  and 
lung  congestion.  Yet  his  face  was  as  pink 
as  if  he  were  alive  and  had  had  the  blood 
whipped  into  his  cheeks  by  a  walk  in  the 
cold  wind. 

De  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum! 

Yet  I  begrudged  him  this  painless  and 
beautiful  death. 

And  here  lay  another  that  was  to  escape 
"Hell's  grim  Tyrant." 

In  a  country  where  justice  is  subservient 


136  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

to  politics,  it  is  necessary  for  the  righteous 
citizen  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands 
until  such  time  as  the  whole  legal  execu- 
tive, from  the  policeman  to  the  judge,  are 
appointed  and  retained  independently  of 
any  party. 

If  I  denounced  him,  he  might  escape; 
certainly  his  confederates  would  not  be 
made  to  face  the  King  of  Terrors.  His 
guilt  was  autoptic,  and  until  such  time  as 
the  State  furnished  the  means  of  reforma- 
tory punishment,  I  was  compelled  to  adopt 
the  crude  social  defence  of  capital  punish- 
ment. 

I  turned  on  the  motor,  closed  the  door 
behind  me,  but  did  not  lock  it,  and  left 
them  "in  the  dark  union  of  insensate  dust." 

As  soon  as  I  reached  home,  I  sank  to  my 
knees  and  asked  the  Author  of  all  Being  to 
forgive  me  if  I  had  done  wrong  in  super- 
erogating  to  myself  the  horrible  duties  of 
the  executioner,  and  to  save  me  from  turn- 
ing a  deaf  ear  to  the  "unrespited,  unpitied, 
unreprieved." 

After  an  hour's  meditation,  I  dared  to 
examine  the  papers  I  had  brought  with  me. 
One  of  them  especially  arrested  my  atten- 
tion, and  if  I  were  interested  in  weaving 
a  plot  and  leading  the  reader  up  to  a  sen- 
sational denouement  instead  of  telling  the 
unvarnished  truth,  I  should  withhold  the 


CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO  137 

contents  until  the  dramatic  moment  ar- 
rived. But  as  I  was  determined  to  enlist 
no  exterior  aid  in  my  war  upon  vice  and 
crime,  and  as  such  damning  evidence  could 
serve  no  other  purpose  but  to  satisfy  my 
own  conscience,  I  here  admit  the  reader 
into  my  confidence. 

The  document  read  as  follows: 

In  consideration  of Speedway  putting 

Bloater  out  of  the  way  for  all  time 


before  he  can  foreclose  the  mortgage  on  my 

building  at  ,  and  if  the  said  Speedway 

procure  for  me  without  any  payment  to  the 
said  Bloater  all  the  papers  pertaining  to  the 
said  mortgage,  I  hereby  agree  to  pay  to  the 
said  Speedway  $20,000  six  months  from  date. 

Steel. 

As  witness: 

Pureheart, 

Rattler. 

Such  was  the  euphemistic  phraseology 
of  murder  and  blood-money. 

As  to  the  mortgage,  I  pondered  long 
whether  I  should  mail  it  to  the  officials  of 
the  Bloater  Bank  and  allow  them  to  fore- 
close, but  I  finally  decided  that  such  a 
course  would  not  aid  in -my  projected 
general  clean-up  of  the  gang. 

The  following  morning  I  read  with  no 
distinterested  attention  the  startling  head- 
lines and  sensational  articles  of  the  acci- 
dental double-death  by  petromortis. 


138  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 


vn. 

CALLS'  CRADLE. 

It  was  the  first  of  the  month,  and  as  I 
walked  past  the  Block,  I  noticed  a  "To  Let" 
sign  in  the  laundry  and  an  unusual  com- 
motion in  the  chop  suey.  Enquiries  elicited 
the  information  that  Fujii  had  sold  out  and 
Ching  Wo  Po  had  removed  his  plant  several 
blocks.  Evidently  their  Oriental  instinct 
had  warned  them  that  the  sword  of  Da- 
mocles was  suspended  over  their  heads. 

I  entered  the  chop  suey  and,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  disorder  and  preoccupation 
of  the  new  proprietor,  made  a  wax  impres- 
sion of  the  lock  of  the  steel  door  in  the 
lavatory.  With  this  I  hurried  to  an  expert 
locksmith,  and  in  an  hour  was  supplied 
with  two  skeleton  keys  which  the  crafts- 
man confidently  wagered  would  not  both 
fail  to  turn  the  lock  for  which  they  were 
designed. 

Furnished  with  these  passe-partout,  I 
returned,  and  immediately  descended  to 
the  lavatory  again.  There  were  several 
guests  there  at  the  time,  so  I  made  believe 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  139 

that  I  was  washing  my  hands  till  they  left 
me  alone.  Then  I  approached  the  door  and 
with  much  trepidation  inserted  a  key.  I 
did  not  fear  interruption  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  chop  suey,  though  that  might 
prove  more  than  unpleasant,  but  I  did  not 
know  what  I  might  encounter  beyond,  and 
as  soon  as  I  got  through,  I  should  be  com- 
pelled to  lock  the  door  behind  me.  It  was 
a  rash  reconnaissance,  but  I  repeated  to 
myself  the  lines:  "Have  I  not  in  my  time 
heard  lions  roar?  I  dare  do  all  that  may 
become  a  man,"  and  I  turned  the  key.  It 
grated  slightly,  but  the  spring  snapped, 
and  I  pushed  open  and  closed  as  rapidly 
behind  me  the  door.  With  bated  breath 
I  stood  on  the  qui  vive  and  peered  into  the 
darkness.  No  "gorgons  and  hydras  and 
chimeras  dire,"  met  my  sight.  Neither 
did  I  catch  any  sound.  Truly  "there  is 
always  safety  in  valor,"  as  Emerson  says. 
When  my  eyes  grew  accustomed  to  the 
obscurity,  I  moved  stealthily  forward  in  all 
dhections,  but  did  not  encounter  a  living 
soul.  At  last  I  entered  the  boiler  room. 
The  iirnace  glowed  and  crackled  cheerfully 
in  strfdng  contrast  to  the  surrounding 
silence  vnd  gloom.  Who  had  taken  the 
place  of  Righteous  ?  That  was  the  motive 
of  my  qujst. 

Near  tie  entrance  to  the  boiler  room 


140  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

were  stacked  up  heaps  of  packing-cases 
and  other  junk,  which,  as  occasion  re- 
quired, was  broken  up  to  start  the  furnace. 
Selecting  a  good-sized  case,  I  huddled  into 
it  and  awaited  the  advent  of  the  new 
janitor.  I  sat  thus  patiently  for  at  least 
two  hours  before  I  heard  the  welcome 
sound  of  approaching  footsteps.  To  my 
great  joy  I  discovered  that  Rattler  served 
the  furnace,  and  that  apparently  a  new 
janitor  had  not  yet  been  assigned. 

As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  I  tumbled  out 
of  my  compressed  position  and  stretched 
my  limbs  aching  with  pins  and  needles. 
Then  I  made  my  way  back  to  the  chop 
suey.  I  was  compelled  to  depart  the  same 
way  I  had  come,  for  every  other  entrance 
would  surely  be  guarded.  The  new  host 
had  probably  not  been  warned,  or  he  would 
not  have  bought  the  good-will  that  a  com- 
patriot had  sold  cheap.  If  I  met  a  guest 
on  the  other  side,  while  opening  the  door, 
he  would  not  unnaturally  consider  that  I 
was  within  my  rights.  If  I  encountered 
one  of  the  old  waiters,  trouble  might  en- 
sue ;  but  I  counted  on  being  able  to  make 
my  escape  before  he  could  warn  the  de- 
tectives, if  so  disposed,  for  he  wouM  hardly 
attempt  to  stop  an  armed  man  or  give  the 
alarm  in  such  wise  as  to  frighten  away  the 
new  proprietor. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  141 

It  was  therefore  with  less  misgivings 
that  I  turned  the  key  the  second  time,  and 
re-entered  the  lavatory.  Again  there  were 
several  guests  around,  but  none  of  them 
paid  any  special  attention  to  me,  except  to 
look  at  the  long  white  beard  with  which 
I  had  disguised  myself.  In  the  chop  suey 
were  gathered  a  number  of  habitues  to  do 
honor  to  the  new  management,  but  I  did 
not  stop  to  make  any  observations. 

As  soon  as  I  got  outside,  I  felt  that  I 
was  being  shadowed.  There  is  some  in- 
fallible instinct  that  warns  every  high- 
strung  creature  of  the  proximity  of  mortal 
danger.  It  is  something  intangible,  like 
the  contagion  of  gaping,  yet  it  is  as  real.  I 
knew  that  death  threatened  me,  as  surely, 
as  my  ancestors  had  always  had  presenti- 
ments of  their  impending  deaths. 

I  must  not  look  around  or  hasten  my 
steps,  for  that  would  tell  him  that  he  had 
been  discovered.  Had  my  appearance  or 
my  movements  awakened  suspicion,  or, 
worse  still,  had  some  who  saw  me  open  the 
lavatory  door  given  him  warning?  He 
himself  evidently  had  not  seen  me  in  the 
lavatory  or  chop  suey,  or  I  should  not  have 
been  allowed  to  step  outside.  I  was  sure 
only  of  one  thing.  No  attempt  would  be 
made  to  arrest  me.  The  fight  was  between 
me  and  the  gang,  not  between  the  law  and 
me. 


142  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

It  was  about  9  P.  M.  and  raining.  I  could 
have  entered  some  crowded  place  and  per- 
haps shaken  him  off,  but  he  knew  too  much 
of  my  gait  and  build  to  be  allowed  to  return 
unscathed  to  the  Block.  If  he  were  de- 
termined to  hunt  me  to  the  death,  I  also 
had  resolved  that  he  should  not  go  back 
to  the  Block  alive. 

We  were  approaching  the  Lake.  Hardly 
a  light  or  a  pedestrian  was  now  to  be  seen. 
The  last  building,  some  darkened  store- 
house, was  apparently  at  my  side.  If  I 
darted  round  the  corner  and  waited  for 
him,  I  should  be  at  his  mercy;  for,  if  he 
were  anything  of  a  blood-hound,  he  would 
not  come  right  on,  but  either  go  around 
the  building  in  the  opposite  direction  and 
wait  for  me  to  come  round  a  corner  and 
pick  me  off  before  I  could  take  aim,  or, 
more  likely,  he  would  go  off  at  a  tangent 
.to  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  and  crawl 
along  unseen  till  he  caught  sight  of  my 
outline  against  the  wall  and  then  fire.  Then 
I  did  not  wish  to  use  my  weapon  except 
in  self-defence. 

In  South  Africa  I  have  been  hunted  by 
black  and  white,  and  have  hunted  them, 
and  was  therefore  equal  to  my  tracker  un- 
less he  were  a  crack  shot  in  the  dark.  I 
determined  to  walk  straight  on,  across  an 
open  prairie,  and  take  the  risk  of  a  bullet. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  143 

I  had  about  reached  the  other  side,  when 
I  felt  a  sudden  afflux  of  heat  all  over  my 
body,  and  knew  I  had  been  struck.  I  did 
not  hear  the  report,  as  the  shock  had  set 
up  a  ringing  in  my  ears  that  prevented  all 
exterior  sound  from  reaching  my  brain. 
I  was  not  unprepared,  and  dropped  im- 
mediately, though  I  could  have  retained 
my  equilibrium.  I  felt  no  pain,  and,  as  I 
have  been  wounded  several  times,  I  judged 
that  I  had  received  a  flesh-wound  under  my 
left  armpit,  and  could  feel  the  blood  sat- 
urating my  clothes.  I  pressed  my  left  arm 
tight  against  my  body  to  stop  the  bleeding 
as  much  as  possible,  and  waited  for  the 
approach  of  my  assailant. 

I  did  not  expect  him  to  rush  up  to  me. 
He  would  no  doubt  wait  to  see  if  any  one 
approached  or  if  I  made  any  outcry  or 
movement.  Finally  I  noticed  his  crouch- 
ing outline  slowly  stealing  towards  me.  I 
was  in  no  hurry.  The  nearer  he  approached, 
the  more  confident  would  he  become,  and 
the  surer  would  my  aim  be. 

He  was  almost  bending  over  me  when  I 
pulled  the  trigger.  With  a  piercing  cry  he 
sprang  into  the  air.  Then  he  dropped  in 
his  tracks  at  my  side,  so  close  to  me  that 
I  could  hear  the  rattle  in  his  throat  and  see 
the  spasms  of  his  body  and  limbs.  I  had 
aimed  at  his  heart,  and  I  judged  that  my 


144 

bullet  had  found  its  billet,  or  I  would  have 
fired  again. 

When  I  felt  sure  that  he  was  dead,  I 
grasped  the  ring  of  my  revolver  between 
my  teeth  and  sat  up,  unbuttoned  my  coat 
and  vest,  slipped  my  belt  up  to  where  I 
thought  I  was  wounded,  and  drew  it  tight. 

Then  I  rose  to  my  feet  and  tried  to  as- 
certain whether  I  was  still  bleeding,  and 
if  I  had  lost  much  blood.  I  did  not  feel 
weak,  and  only  noticed  the  blood  dripping 
down  my  side  and  leg,  but  not  running 
from  the  wound. 

I  now  turned  my  electric  pocket  lamp 
into  the  face  of  the  dead  man.  I  did  not 
know  him,  and  he  had  nothing  to  identify 
him  except  his  secret  service  star. 

We  were  only  about  a  block  away  from 
the  Lake,  so  I  dragged  his  body  into  the 
water,  hoping  that  it  would  be  floated  away 
from  this  spot  and  that  the  rain  would 
further  wash  away  every  other  evidence  of 
my  presence.  As  soon  as  I  had  consigned 
him  into  his  watery  grave,  I  washed  the 
blood  from  my  clothes  and  person,  and  took 
the  first  taxi  I  encountered  to  a  surgeon 
friend. 

As  I  had  anticipated,  the  wound  was  not 
serious,  though  my  friend  held  up  his 
hands  in  horror  when  I  told  him  that  I 
must  go  out  again  as  soon  as  the  wound 
was  dressed. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  145 

"I  can't  allow  you  to  move.  You  must 
sleep  here.  If  your  broad  military  belt 
had  not  fortunately  just  covered  the 
wound,  you  would  be  so  weak  now  from 
loss  of  blood  that  you  would  not  be  able 
to  move,  if  you  wished  to." 

"That's  all  right.  I've  moved  about  and 
ridden  hundreds  of  miles  with  worse  than 
this.  It's  not  bleeding  and  it  doesn't  hurt. 
Tie  it  up  tight,  and  I'll  come  around  to- 
morrow and  let  you  have  a  look  at  it  again. 
But  if  you  want  to  spare  me  any  exertion, 
I'll  let  you  do  something  for  me  before  I 
leave." 

VI  know  it's  no  use  arguing  with  you. 
You're  too  pig-headed  to  listen  to  reason, 
and  one  day  I'll  read  in  the  papers  that 
they've  found  you  hanged,  or  shot,  or  gar- 
roted,  or  stabbed,  or  some  such  pleasant 
end." 

"Always  better  than  allowing  a  doctor 
a  month  to  kill  you." 

"Shut  up  and  tell  us  what  you  want." 

"Go  out  and  buy  me  a  pair  of  over-alls, 
a  flannel  shirt,  a  slouch  cap,  and  bring  up 
a  bucket  of  coal-dust  from  the  cellar,  and 
a  safety-razor  from  wherever  you  can  get 
it." 

He  looked  at  me  in  doubt,  as  if  he  could 
not  believe  that  I  meant  it  seriously. 

"If  you  won't,  I  will,  and  that  might 
hurt  the  wound." 


146  CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO 

"Well,  of  all  the ,"  he  ejaculated, 

but  I  did  not  catch  the  closing  words,  for 
he  was  out  of  the  door. 

He  soon  returned  with  the  stage  fixtures. 

"I  have  determined  to  make  a  clean 
sweep — " 

"I  thought  a  dirty  sweep,  judging  from 
the  coal-dust,"  he  interrupted  savagely. 

"I  want  you  to  give  me  a  clean  shave, 
mustaches  and  Vandyke." 

"I'm  yer  barber.  Shave  yer  head,  Sir, 
and  yer  eyebrows?  Singe  yer  lashes,  or 
pull  'em  out  with  the  tweezers?  As  ye 
like,  Mister." 

I  allowed  him  to  yap  on  so  long  as  he 
did  the  work. 

"Shampoo,  Sir?" 

"Thanks,  no!  Take  off  my  boots  and 
socks,  in  fact  all  my  clothes,  and,  when 
I'm  gone,  pitch  them  into  the  furnace." 

"Don't  ye  want  to  go  with  'em,  Mister? 
The  furnace's  plenty  big  enough." 

"And  bring  me  a  pair  of  old  boots  and 
pants  of  your  own.  They're  miles  too  big, 
but  that  can't  be  helped." 

"Want  me  pocket-book  too,  Sir?" 

"Now  roll  all  this  stuff  in  the  coal-dust." 

"You  too.  Mister?" 

"This  time  I'll  give  you  the  satisfaction 
you  desire.  Cover  my  face  and  hands  with 
the  dust  too." 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  147 

He  evidently  enjoyed  this  part  of  the 
performance. 

"And  now  dress  me." 

"Your  valet,  Sir,  at  your  service!  Be 
your  tailor,  too.  Cut  off  the  ends  of  your 
unmentionables,  or  turn  'em  up  and  press 
'em,  Sir?" 

"Never  mind  the  pressing,  just  turn 
them  up,  and  put  my  revolver  in  my  hip 
pocket.  What  you  think  of  me?" 

"Swell,  Sir !  Regler  sport !  Jest  a  little 
perfume,  and  a  suite  at  the  Helldorf,  and 
all  the  kids'll  be  after  ye.  Shine,  Sir?" 

"Good  night,  dear  friend!  Your  hand's 
as  black  as  mine,  so  I  don't  mind  offering 
to  shake.  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it  some 
day." 

He  looked  at  me  with  wistful  eyes,  as  I 
left  him,  and  I  knew  that  his  facetious 
sallies  covered  the  concern  of  a  warm  and 
loyal  heart. 

I  was  soon  ensconced  in  Rattler's  saloon 
and  not  undesirous  of  attracting  his  atten- 
tion. He  eyed  me  several  times  obliquely 
before  he  approached  and  dropped  his 
ponderous  carcass  into  a  chair  opposite 
me. 

"Well,  stranger,  what  ye're  going  to 
have?" 

"Doctor's  orders,  only  milk  and  soda." 

"Sick?" 


148  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

"Hurt,"  and  I  placed  my  hand  conscien- 
tiously over  my  wound. 

"Been  here  long?" 

"Couple  o'  weeks." 

"Coal  heaver?" 

"No,  janitor." 

"Looking  for  a  job?" 

"No." 

"Where  ye  hail  from?" 

"Canada." 

"What  ye  do  there?" 

"Time." 

"Oh !     Got  any  long  greens  ?" 

"No." 

"Better  take  a  job  then.  I've  got  some- 
thing in  yer  line,  if  ye  can  keep  yer  jaw 
shut." 

"No,  too  weak  yet." 

"Never  mind  that.  We'll  make  it  light 
for  ye  at  first.  I'll  just  call  the  boss  and 
talk  it  over." 

He  rose  from  the  chair  and  went  over 
to  the  phone.  In  a  few  minutes  Steel  en- 
tered the  saloon,  and  after  a  short  confer- 
ence they  both  came  over  to  the  table 
where  I  sat  aloof.  Steel  eyed  me  long  and 
searchingly  and  finally  enquired: 

"What  you  do  time  for?" 

Noting  the  badge  of  a  secret  society  on 
his  fob,  I  gave  him  the  penal  sign,  and  he 
evidently  took  it  in  the  double  sense  in- 
tended. 


CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO  149 

"What  you  come  to  this  saloon  for?" 

"Heard  something  up." 

"Know  any  of  the  kids?" 

"No." 

"Don't  think  you'll  make  anything  here. 
Can  you  use  a  gun?" 

"Yep." 

"If  you  don't  want  the  janitor's  job, 
you'd  better  beat  it.  Take  it?" 

"No,  hurt." 

"How  long  will  it  take  to  get  fixed  up  ?" 

"Week." 

"Just  shovel  the  coal  into  the  furnace, 
and  we'll  help  you  carry  out  the  cinders. 
Take  it  or  beat  it?" 

"What's  the  pay?" 

"Two  bucks  a  day,  and  you  sleep  in  the 
basement  with  a  gun  in  your  hand,  and  put 
a  hole  into  any  man  that's  got  no  business 
there.  Take  it?" 

"Yep." 

"Rattler'll  show  you  round,  and  give  you 
a  knock-down  to  all  who  belong  here.  Give 
'em  the  once-over,  and  then  go  on  the  job. 
Here's  two  bucks." 

He  left  us  with  a  sardonic  grin  on  his 
face,  looking  exactly  what  he  was. 

Under  the  guidance  of  the  publican,  I 
was  shown  over  the  building  and  presented 
to  the  various  tenants.  I  was  warned  to 
take  special  notice  of  all  such  as  were  per- 


150  CRIMINALS    OF    CHICAGO 

mitted  to  enter  the  basement,  and  advised 
to  shoot  first  if  I  found  any  one  else  below, 
as  a  daring  burglary  had  been  perpetrated 
a  few  days  previously.  Four  detectives 
were  pointed  out  to  me,  and  I  was  told  that 
there  were  several  others  stationed  around 
the  block. 

I  was  not  told  of  the  opium  den  and  its 
secret  entrance,  but  the  wiretapping  appli- 
ance beneath  the  bed  was  pointed  out  to 
me,  though  no  instruction  as  to  its  opera- 
tion was  vouchsafed  to  me.  One  introduc- 
tion was  of  especial  interest  to  me.  Open- 
ing on  to  the  back  balcony  of  the  second 
floor  was  a  little  room  where  the  janitor 
kept  some  of  his  mops,  brooms,  mats,  etc. 
In  one  of  its  dark  recesses  I  noticed  a  dusty 
flight  of  stairs  which  evidently  led  to  the 
loft.  I  did  not  exhibit  any  curiosity  as  to 
its  purpose,  but  I  determined  to  make  use 
of  it  on  the  first  possible  occasion. 

After  I  had  been  ciceroned  through  this 
sink  of  iniquity,  I  went  down  to  the  saloon 
and  drank  a  pint  of  hot  milk.  I  took  an- 
other bottle  with  me  to  drink  during  the 
night,  and,  after  banking  the  fire,  threw 
myself  on  the  bed  in  my  clothes,  and  im- 
mediately sank  to  "tired  Nature's  sweet 
restorer,  balmy  sleep." 

It  was  Thursday  night.  I  had  told  Rat- 
tler that  I  was  going  to  visit  my  doctor, 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  151 

and  not  to  be  surprised  if  I  was  not  at 
my  post.  On  my  return  I  hastily  stoked 
the  furnace,  and  ran  up  to  the  loft  by  way 
of  my  newly  discovered  stairs. 

Calls  was  lying  in  an  immaculately  white 
bed,  staring  vacantly  before  her,  and 
deathly  pale.  The  perspiration  poured 
from  her  face  and  bosom  and  she  seemed 
to  have  just  gained  respite  from  some 
violent  spell  of  pain.  As  I  did  not  see  In- 
nocent, I  crawled  towards  Pureheart's  peri- 
scope, but  she  was  not  there.  Then  I  tried 
Madame  Coupler's,  and  discovered  her  in 
animated  conversation  with  Steel,  but  their 
tones  were  deliberately  suppressed  as  if 
they  feared  being  overheard,  and  I  re- 
turned to  view  Calls. 

In  a  few  minutes  she  began  to  moan, 
then  to  utter  ear-piercing  shrieks,  and  I 
judged  that  the  pangs  of  parturition  were 
upon  her. 

Innocent  now  appeared  on  the  scene, 
bearing  a  pair  of  silver  forceps  in  her  right 
hand.  She  was  exceptionally  skilful  in 
obstetrics,  and  in  a  few  moments  I  heard 
the  faint  wail  of  an  infant.  The  mother 
had  become  suddenly  quiet,  and  I  thought 
she  had  fainted. 

Then  an  unexpected  proceeding  riveted 
my  attention,  and  filled  me  with  horror. 
The  accoucheuse  looked  searchingly  at  the 


152  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

unconscious  mother,  then  deliberately 
turned  the  nut  on  the  forceps  till  she  had 
crushed  the  skull  of  the  being  she  had  only 
a  few  instants  before  brought  into  this  vale 
of  tears.  The  deed  was  so  sudden  and 
perpetrated  with  such  callous  sangfroid, 
that  I  did  not  recover  my  power  of  action 
till  after  Steel  had  entered  the  chamber  at 
Innocent's  call,  taken  the  hastily  wrapped 
corpse  in  his  arms  and  departed. 

Then  I  shook  myself  free  from  the  in- 
cubus and  hurried  to  the  basement.  But 
Steel  was  already  there,  standing  guard 
before  the  closed  furnace. 

"Just  thought  I'd  give  you  a  hand  and 
make  the  fire  for  you.  You  needn't  look 
at  it  again  for  a  couple  of  hours.  Rattler 
told  me  you'd  gone  to  see  the  doctor." 

But  he  made  no  attempt  to  leave  me 
alone,  and  before  I  could  make  up  my  mind 
what  to  say  or  do,  the  phone  in  my  room 
called  me  away.  It  was  an  urgent  appeal 
from  the  murderess: 

"Tell  Steel  to  come  up  at  once." 

I  did  not  go  into  the  boiler-room,  but 
called  to  him,  and  then  threw  myself  on 
to  the  couch,  so  that  he  might  see  me  in 
this  unsuspicious  attitude  as  he  hastened 
past  me. 

As  soon  as  the  door  closel  behind  him, 
I  jumped  up,  and  dashed  to  the  furnace. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  153 

There  were  the  cremated  remains  of  the 
tiny  holocaust! 

The  mother,  filled  with  aversion  at  the 
prospects  of  motherhood,  would  hardly 
have  resigned  her  illegitimate  offspring  to 
such  a  cradle. 

But  I  did  not  tarry  long  before  this  sad 
commentary  on  human  depravity.  Steel 
might  return  at  any  moment;  besides, 
what  might  not  be  happening  elsewhere? 

I  hurried  again  to  the  clerestory  to  wit- 
ness another  act  in  this  twentieth  century 
tragedy. 

Calls  was  wildly  tearing  her  hair  and 
screaming  shrilly: 

"Where's  my  baby?  I  want  my  baby. 
It's  my  baby  and  his.  I  want  my  baby." 

"I  told  you  you  can't  have  it  now,"  said 
Innocent  doggedly. 

"I  want  it,  I  want  it  now.  Bring  my 
baby." 

"I  told  you  I'd  take  it  to  Baltimore." 

"I  want  it  here,  and  he's  got  to  marry 
me,"  she  screeched,  pointing  to  Steel  who 
stood  near  the  door.  "It's  his  child,  and 
I'll  make  him  marry  me,  or  I'll  show  him 
up.  I  want  my  baby." 

"It's  not  here,"  retorted  Steel. 

The  frantic  mother  stared  at  him  for  a 
moment,  then  at  the  woman,  as  if  trying 
to  divine  the  full  import  of  his  words. 


154  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

Then  in  a  sudden  paroxysm  of  inspiration, 
peal  upon  peal  of  accusation  broke  from 
her  hoarse  throat:  • 

"You  murdered  it,  you  murdered  it.  I 
saw  you  do  it.  It  was  alive.  I  heard  it 
cry,  and  you  murdered  it.  Murderer! 
Murderer!"  she  shrieked,  pointing  first  at 
one  then  at  the  other. 

Innocent  squirmed  uneasily,  but  Steel 
stood  unmoved.  His  indifference  seemed 
to  provoke  her  beyond  endurance.  She 
seized  a  tumbler  at  her  side  and  flung  it 
at  him.  It  fell  shattered  at  his  feet,  the 
crash  smothered  by  her  own  strident  voice : 

"Help,  help!  Murder!  Help,  help! 
Police!  Help!  Murder!" 

A  sudden  resolve  seemed  to  pass  over 
Steel's  impassive  face,  and  he  left  the 
room.  In  a  few  moments  he  returned, 
accompanied  by  Pureheart.  The  doctor 
looked  thoughtfully  at  the  raving  creature 
for  several  moments,  then  he  turned  to  the 
detective  and  said: 

"She's  sane." 

"Then  go  and  fetch  it,"  commanded  Steel 
impatiently. 

Calls  still  gesticulated,  and  her  lips 
moved,  but  no  sound  escaped  them.  She 
was  utterly  worn  out  with  all  the  excite- 
ment and  suffering  through  which  she  had 
passed,  but  she  still  sat  upright. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  155 

The  doctor  turned  and  strode  out  of  the 
chamber,  but  he  was  absent  only  a  few 
minutes.  When  he  returned,  he  bore  a 
small  medicine  glass  in  his  hand  which  he 
offered  to  Steel. 

"Here,  take  this,"  said  the  detective 
gruffly  to  his  unwedded  wife.  "It'll  make 
you  sleep.  You're  crazy,  and  don't  know 
what  you're  talking  about." 

But  she  refused  the  proffered  potion. 

"If  you  won't  take  it,  I'll  pour  it  down 
your  throat,"  he  threatened. 

Still  she  shook  her  head  and  held  her 
hand  over  her  mouth. 

"Here,  Doc,  and  you  too,"  he  said  ad- 
dressing Innocent,  "come  and  help  me  hold 
her  while  I  make  her  swallow  it." 

Pureheart  hesitated,  but  the  woman  ap- 
proached as  if  fearing  to  disobey.  Steel 
caught  the  hand  that  was  held  tightly 
across  the  mouth  and  dragged  it  roughly 
away,  but  Calls  immediately  placed  her 
other  hand  in  the  same  position. 

"Pull  her  hand  away,"  he  ordered  angri- 
ly, and  Innocent  did  his  behest. 

But  he  could  not  force  the  lips  apart. 

"Why  don't  you  lend  a  hand?  Haven't 
you  the  nerve?" 

The  doctor  thus  dared,  came  reluctantly 
forward  and  took  the  hand  that  Steel 
grasped.  The  latter  now  relieved,  seized 


156  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

a  tablespoon  and  forced  open  the  teeth  of 
the  struggling  scapegoat  whom  he  had 
forced  back  on  her  pillow.  Then  he  poured 
the  contents  of  the  glass  into  her  mouth, 
and  held  her  down  till  she  had  swallowed 
it. 

The  doctor  released  his  hold,  then  the 
midwife,  and  Calls  clutched  feebly  at 
Steel's  hands  that  held  her  down  and 
covered  her  mouth. 

In  less  than  a  minute  I  saw  pass  through 
her  whole  body  a  single  tetanic  convulsion, 
such  as  toxicologists  state  accompanies 
death  from  liquid  cyanide  of  potassium; 
then  she  became  still,  and  the  pallor  of 
death  spread  over  her  face. 

Until  then  I  had  thought  they  were 
administering  some  sleeping  draught, 
otherwise  I  should  have  fired  through  the 
ceiling.  Now  I  knew  they  had  poisoned 
her. 

The  doctor,  prescriber  of  parturifacients, 
slunk  out  of  the  room,  obsessed  by  the 
crime  he  had  abetted.  The  woman,  the 
professional  feticide,  who  had  unflinchingly 
taken  the  lives  of  dozens  of  infants,  dared 
not  now  look  upon  the  face  of  a  martyred 
mother,  and  crept  out  after  him.  The  un- 
natural uxoricide,  instigator  of  this  inhu- 
manity, looked  around,  and,  seeing  himself 
alone  with  his  dead,  drew  away  his  hack- 
ster  hands  and  followed  his  accomplices. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  157 

"The  trail  of  the  serpent  was  over  them 
all." 

I,  believing  I  had  witnessed  sufficient 
human  hideousness  for  one  night,  raised 
myself  from  the  boards,  and  sped  down 
to  my  couch. 

0  temporal  0  mores! 


158  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

VIII. 
INNOCENT  INFANTICIDE. 

I  had  slept  for  several  hours,  when  in 
the  midst  of  a  dream  of  "a  soul  as  white 
as  heaven,"  "as  chaste  as  unsunn'd  snow," 
I  was  suddenly  awakened  by  a  violent  rap- 
ping at  my  door.  I  seized  my  revolver 
and  called  out: 

"Who's  there?" 

"Open  the  door,"  came  back  in  Steel's 
metallic  voice. 

Had  he  discovered  something,  and  was 
this  to  be  the  final  reckoning  ?  I  hesitated, 
but  answered  him: 

"All  right,  wait  a  bit." 

Should  I  open  and  risk  his  vengeance? 

I  would. 

"What  stronger  breastplate  than  a  heart 
untainted?" 

"Simple  duty  hath  no  place  for  fear." 

But  I  cautiously  shielded  myself  behind 
the  opening  door,  and  held  my  cocked  re- 
volver before  me. 

"I  see  you've  got  it  ready,"  he  smiled 
forcedly.  "I  only  wanted  you  to  lend  a  hand 
with  a  dead  woman  upstairs.  She  died 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  159 

having  a  baby,  and  the  midwife  wants  her 
buried  to-night.  Afraid  to  handle  her?" 

"No." 

"Come  along  then." 

He  led  me  to  the  chamber  of  the  dead. 
In  the  hall  adjoining  I  saw  four  black- 
clothed  men  and  a  coffin.  No  one  else  was 
about. 

"Help  me  carry  the  coffin  into  the  room." 

"Can't  lift  anything  with  my  left  hand. 
Tie  a  rope  round  it,  and  I'll  pick  it  up  with 
my  right." 

One  of  the  undertaker's  underlings, 
hearing  my  request,  produced  a  strap,  and 
slipped  it  under  the  coffin.  Taking  hold 
of  this,  I  helped  Steel  lift  the  box  and  carry 
it  into  the  room. 

Calls  lay  there  exactly  as  I  had  seen  her 
last. 

"Let  it  down  on  the  floor.  Now  slip  the 
strap  under  her  feet,  and  I'll  take  her 
shoulders,  and  we'll  lift  her  into  it." 

As  I  performed  these  last  rites,  I  could 
not  help  thinking  that  perhaps  she  would 
be  better  off  in  her  grave  than  in  this 
pitiless  world  of  ours. 

If  "virtue  itself  'scapes  not  calumnious 
strokes,"  "virtue  the  greatest  of  all  mon- 
archies," how  should  vice  bear  "the  dismal 
universal  hiss,  the  sound  of  public  scorn?" 

God  rest  her  soul,  and  may  she  meet  that 


160  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

of  her  innocent  babe,  which  nipped  in  the 
bud  on  our  terrestrial  sphere,  may  bloom 
unblemished  in  the  astral  planes! 

But  why  had  he  asked  me,  and  not  those 
funeral-garbed  hirelings  to  coffin  his  vic- 
tim? I  understood  why  his  accomplices 
dared  not  handle  the  dead,  but  his  motive 
for  not  allowing  the  professional  mourners 
to  view  his  paramour  was  inscrutable,  un- 
less there  lurked  in  his  dastardly  designs 
some  latent  fear  that  they  might  read  in 
her  face  his  guilt.  Or  perhaps  he  wished 
to  put  me  to  the  test. 

As  soon  as  he  had  screwed  down  the  lid, 
he  called  to  the  paid  pallbearers  and  they 
immediately  removed  the  coffin. 

Before  leaving  with  them,  he  ushered 
me  into  another  bed-chamber  where  I  dis- 
covered Innocent  in  travelling  attire,  and 
a  tiny  infant  lying  on  her  bed. 

"Here's  the  janitor.  Tell  him  what  you 
want  done,"  said  the  detective  curtly,  and 
immediately  turned  on  his  heel. 

The  midwife  eyed  me  long  before  she 
spoke,  while  I  tried  to  evade  her  gaze. 

"I  want  you  to  clean  up  the  room  where 
that  woman  died,  poor  soul.  I'm  going  to 
take  her  baby  to  her  relatives  in  Baltimore, 
and  I'll  be  away  a  few  days.  If  any  one 
calls,  tell  them  I'll  be  back  soon.  You'll 
find  the  linen  in  this  dresser,  and  you'd 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  161 

better  burn  the  other.  I've  left  a  note  for 
the  milkman.  Take  my  grip  down  to  the 
taxi,  while  I  carry  the  baby." 

She  was  a  gaunt,  peroxide  blonde,  with 
steel  grey  eyes,  and  a  staccato  intonation. 
She  moved  about  silently  and  rapidly,  and 
as  she  lifted  the  child,  I  noticed  that  her 
long,  lean  fingers  were  extraordinarily 
knotted  at  the  knuckles. 

I  did  not  say  a  word,  but  took  the  satchel 
and  followed  her  down-stairs  to  the  taxi 
which  stood  in  front  of  the  building.  As 
soon  as  she  was  gone,  I  wondered  where 
the  hearse  was.  It  could  hardly  have  dis- 
appeared so  quickly.  Then  I  bethought 
myself  that  it  most  probably  would  be 
standing  in  the  rear,  and  I  hurried  through 
the  hall  just  in  time  to  see  the  long,  black 
machine  glide  off  bearing  the  cocained 
corpse  to  "the  deep  cold  shadow  of  the 
tomb"  unmourned,  for  the  men  who  occu- 
pied the  adjoining  compartment  neither 
knew  nor  cared  whom  they  interred,  and 
the  one  who  knew  grieved  not  and  accom- 
panied the  mother  of  his  child  only  that 
he  might  have  her  inhumed  unknown  and 
unseen. 

Day  was  beginning  to  dawn.  It  seemed 
to  me  as  if  "sable-vested  night"  was  fol- 
lowing in  the  wake  of  the  dead,  and  I  could 
feel  "the  breezy  call  of  incense-breathing 


162  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

morn."  But  I  was  still  weak,  and,  if  de- 
prived of  rest  and  sleep,  would  not  be  able 
to  cope  with  the  wakeful  wretches  that 
surrounded  me.  I  descended  to  my  bed, 
but  "the  eternal  landscape  of  the  past" 
would  not  fade  from  my  vision,  and,  after 
tossing  my  weary  body  about  for  an  hour,  I 
was  compelled  to  go  up  into  the  fresh  air. 

My  life  had  been  spent  in  sunlight  and  in 
pure  air;  the  dank,  dark  basement  was 
therefore  torture  to  me.  I  went  out  to  the 
green  spot  in  front  of  the  school  and 
looked  up  to  "this  gorgeous  arch  with 
golden  worlds  inlayed."  Then  I  waited  for 
the  "flames  in  the  forehead  of  the  morning 
sky."  When  they  came,  they  seemed  to 
dissipate  my  weariness  and  I  began  to 
think  logically. 

Whose  child  had  she  taken  with  her,  and 
was  she  really  going  to  Baltimore?  A 
few  days  previous  I  remembered  having 
read  an  article  that  would  explain  her  rea- 
son for  choosing  this  destination. 

In  an  exhaustive,  detailed  report,  the 
state-wide  vice  commission  had  shown  that 
vice  was  rampant  in  Baltimore.  The  most 
sensational  of  the  features  dealt  with  in 
the  report  was  the  alleged  traffic  in  babies. 
It  was  asserted  that  investigators  had 
found  there  were  institutions  in  Baltimore 
to  which  the  mother  of  an  illegitimate  child 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  163 

might  consign  her  offspring  upon  payment 
of  a  fixed  sum  and  forever  rid  herself  of 
legal  responsibility  for  it. 

Of  the  hundreds  of  children  so  taken  in 
charge  by  the  institution,  the  committee 
averred  that  80  to  90  percent  died  and  were 
buried  in  heaps  in  small  plots  of  ground, 
one  such  plot,  approximately  fifty-five  feet 
square,  having  been  the  tomb  of  5,000 
babies  since  1886. 

Since  the  commission  began  its  work  the 
police  had  closed  the  resorts  in  the  segre- 
gated districts  formerly  tolerated  by  the 
authorities. 

According  to  the  report,  however, 
there  was  no  evidence  that  immorality  was 
not  as  prevalent  as  ever.  Much  of  this  evil 
was  practised  clandestinely,  said  the  com- 
mission, and  business  places,  offices,  board- 
ing houses,  and  even  homes  were  said  to 
have  been  found  in  great  numbers  where 
immorality  was  introduced  and  continued 
in  practice. 

Here  evidently  was  an  idoneous  dump  for 
the  deliveries  which  she  failed  to  defeat. 
This  illuminating  thought  gave  me  peace, 
and  I  lay  down  on  the  grass  to  sleep. 

That  evening  I  proceeded  to  perform  the 
housemaid  duties  assigned  to  me.  They 
were  not  particularly  palatable,  and  I  would 
gladly  have  delegated  them  to  other  hands, 


164  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

if  that  had  been  at  all  possible,  but  under 
the  circumstances  I  was  compelled  to  go 
through  the  sad  and  sickening  chores  my- 
self. I  determined,  however,  to  be  amply 
repaid. 

As  soon  as  my  odious  task  was  com- 
pleted, I  examined  every  room  in  the  flat 
very  minutely.  In  her  medicine  chest  I  was 
not  surprised  to  find  a  bottle  of  arsenic, 
a  number  of  drugs  and  appliances  used  in 
illegal  operations  and  to  promote  abortions 
or  to  check  conception.  Judging  from  the 
quantity,  she  must  have  carried  on  quite  an 
extensive  trade  in  these  latter. 

Every  drawer  in  her  massive  Japanese 
secretaire  was  locked,  but  I  had  come  pre- 
pared to  pick  thenii  and  was  soon  absorbed 
in  a  perusal  of  documents  more  instructive 
in  the  methods  of  human  degradation  and 
depravity  than  were  the  papers  I  had  ap- 
propriated from  Bloater's  assassin. 

Her  banking  account  at  the  Bloater  insti- 
tution ran  into  five  figures,  and  she  made 
deposits  of  from  $100  to  $5,000  at  a  time. 
Several  letters  showed  that  she  received 
similar  amounts  from  different  women,  and 
there  were  also  quite  a  number  of  men 
among  her  contributors.  The  withdrawals 
amounted  to  somewhat  more  than  50 
percent  of  the  deposits,  and  though  her 
checks  were  made  payable  to  herself,  many 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  165 

of  the  counterfoils  bore  the  notation  "for 
S,"  whom  I  judged  to  be  Steel,  while  others 
had  the  single  word  "Baltimore,"  which 
made  me  believe  that  the  money  had  been 
used  to  pay  baby  farmers  in  that  city. 

Her  diary,  though  fragmentary,  was  suf- 
ficiently itemized  to  disclose  its  purpose. 
Certain  names  appeared  opposite  certain 
dates,  with*  some  single  word  or  initial  to 
denote  the  purpose  of  the  appointment. 
Then  in  ink  of  a  different  age  or  in  pen- 
cil would  be  shown  the  receipt  of  a  sum  of 
money  and  disbursements,  if  any.    Some 
women  paid  her  for  drugs,  others  for  oper- 
ations, others  for  confinements,  and  yet 
others  for  the  disposition  of  children.    The 
infants,  if  not  still-born,  were  either  sold  to 
people  who  wished  to  adopt,  placed  in  a 
Baltimore  creche,  or  where  $5000  had  been 
paid  and  there  was  no  debit  or  explana- 
tory term,  I  deemed  the  child  had  been  of- 
fered at  the  altar  of  Moloch.    Very  few 
took  charge  of  their  own  children. 

There  were  quite  a  number  of  letters 
from  people  who  had  answered  advertise- 
ments which  she  seemed  to  insert  regu- 
larly, either  offering  a  child  for  adoption, 
or  touting  for  some  aphrodisiac,  some  ob- 
scene or  suggestive  photo,  some  nostrum 
against  secret  ailments,  etc.,  etc. 

I  had  noticed  many  of  these  exposed  for 


166  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

sale  in  Waginsky's  windows,  and  from  the 
replies  to  her  advertisements  I  gathered 
that  she  claimed  many  of  them  had  been 
concocted  either  by  herself  or  by  the  fam- 
ous professor  of  sexual  ailments,  Dr.  Pure- 
heart. 

I  append  a  selection  of  the  advertise- 
ments which  I  found  inserted  in  a  Chicago 
paper  having  a  circulation  of  over  a  mil- 
lion: 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  167 


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168  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

Many  of  the  letters  showed  that  she 
practised  a  regular  system  of  blackmail.  I 
give  extracts  of  two  which  corroborate  the 
crimes  I  had  personally  witnessed. 

Dear  Nurse  Innocent: — 

For  pity's  sake,  have  patience  till  I  am 
married,  then  I'll  send  you  $100. 

I  paid  you  the  $5,000  agreed  on,  and  I'm 
quite  sure  you  told  me  there  would  not  be  any 
undertaker's  expenses,  so  I  can't  understand 
how  you  got  a  bill  for  $100  from  an  under- 
taker. You  said  there  would  not  be  any  grave 
or  coffin  or  funeral,  and  that  you'd  fix  it  all 
so  that  no  one  but  yourself  would  know. 

But  I'll  send  you  the  money  as  soon  as  I'm 
married.  I  can't  send  you  a  penny  now,  as 
my  parents  are  spending  so  much  for  my 
trousseau,  and  I  dare  not  pawn  anything  just 
before  my  wedding. 

When  I'm  married,  I'll  ask  Frank  for  the 
money,  and  I'll  send  you  $150.  The  extra  $50 
is  for  some  more  of  the  stuff  which  you  gave 
me.  Please  send  it  at  once.  I  want  a  lot  so 
that  I  can  use  it  all  before  the  wedding.  I'm 
so  nervous  that  Frank  may  guess  something, 
though  you  promised  me  faithfully  that  he 
wouldn't  notice  anything,  if  I  took  the  stuff 
regularly.  But  since  your  letter  about  the 
undertaker's  bill,  I've  got  scared,  and  perhaps 
you  didn't  tell  me  the  truth. 

Please  have  patience  for  the  money,  and  tell 
me  if  the  stuff  will  really  make  me  as  if  noth- 
ing had  happened. 

My  God!  What  would  happen  to  me  if  Frank 
found  out?  And  then  I  wouldn't  be  able  to 
pay  you.  I'm  sure  I'd  poison  myself. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  169 

Dear  Nurse: — 

I  received  your  letter  asking  me  for  $250  to 
pay  the  people  in  Baltimore,  or  they  would 
send  the  baby  back  to  you  and  you  would  bring 
it  to  me.  For  God's  sake  tell  them  to  keep  it 
a  little  longer,  and  I'll  send  you  some  more 
money  as  soon  as  I  get  my  month's  pay. 

I  send  you  in  this  letter  a  money  order  for 
$50.  It's  all  I  saved  this  year,  and  I  wanted 
to  go  on  a  vacation.  You  know  I've  been  sick 
ever  since,  and  the  doctor  told  me  to  go  home 
to  the  farm  to  mother,  but  I  daren't,  and  I 
wanted  to  go  somewhere  else.  So  now  I  can't 
go  at  all. 

You  know  I  only  get  $9  a  week,  and  I  send 
$2  to  mother  and  put  $1  in  the  bank  for  the 
baby,  and  sometimes  I  can't,  because  I've  got 
to  pay  the  doctors  and  the  medicines. 

I  promise  faithfully,  I'll  send  you  all  I  can 
at  the  end  of  the  month,  and  please  tell  the 
people  to  wait  and  I'll  pay  them  everything. 
And  don't  write  like  that,  it  makes  me  so  sick, 
and  then  I  can't  work,  and  have  to  call 
the  doctor. 

While  I  was  absorbed  in  close  scrutiny  of 
these  papers,  I  fancied  I  heard  a  slight 
movement  in  the  corridor,  and  dashed  to- 
wards it  with  lightning-like  velocity. 

There  was  Innocent  with  her  back  to  me, 
the  telephone  in  her  hand  and  about  to 
summon  help.  Without  hesitation  or  halt 
in  the  impetus  of  my  rush,  I  sprang  at  her, 
snatched  the  transmitter  from  her  hand, 
and  snapped  the  wire. 


170  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

As  she  whirled  towards  me,  I  feigned 
complete  surprise  and  blurted  out : 

"Didn't  know  it's  you.  Thought  a  thief 
got  into  the  house." 

She  looked  at  me  with  unfeigned  incred- 
ulity and  dudgeon,  and  retorted  sarcastic- 
ally: 

"The  only  thief  in  the  house  is  your- 
self. What  were  you  looking  for  among 
my  papers  ?" 

"Looking  for?"  I  reiterated,  hurt. 
"Wasn't  looking  for  anything.  Was 
straightening  them  out." 

"You're  a  liar,"she  snapped  conclusively. 
"All  the  drawers  were  locked,  and  I've  got 
the  keys." 

"Sorry,  ma'am,  you  don't  believe  me  and 
take  me  for  a  crook.  Look  at  them  your- 
self, none  of  them  locked,"  and  I  stepped 
aside  to  allow  her  to  pass.  I  wanted  her  to 
enter  her  own  room  so  that  I  might  place 
myself  between  her  and  escape.  Though  a 
cunning  woman,  she  fell  unwittingly  into 
my  trap. 

"It  seems  they  are  all  open,"  she  said  in 
puzzled  tones,  turning  towards  me,  "but 
you  may  have  picked  them  all.  You're  no 
janitor,  and  I'm  sure  you're  clever  enough 
to  do  it.  I  hurried  back,  because  I  had  a 
presentiment  that  something  was  wrong, 
and  my  woman's  instinct  never  deceives 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  171 

me.  I  don't  know  who  you  are,  but  you're 
no  ordinary  man,  and  you're  not  a  crim- 
inal. When  I  saw  your  eyes,  I  felt  it  at 
once.  You're  our  enemy.  I'm  surprised 
Steel  didn't  read  your  eyes  and  your  brow. 
He  knows  a  man  as  soon  as  he  sees  him. 
Perhaps  he  recognized  the  brains  and  how 
you  use  them,  and  mistook  you  for  a  great 
crook,  but  you  can't  deceive  a  woman. 
What  did  you  want  among  my  papers,  and 
what  do  you  want  here  working  as  a  jani- 
tor with  hands  and  nails  that  have  never 
done  a  day's  work  in  their  life?" 

I  had  been  compelled  to  wash  my 
hands  before  I  touched  the  bedclothes. 

"When  a  woman  has  once  made  up  her 
mind  about  a  man,  it  is  useless  to  try  and 
disabuse  it,"  I  replied  coldly.  "But  in  this 
instance  your  intuitive  instincts  have  not 
deceived  you.  I  was  looking  for  evidence  to 
convict  you  of  murder." 

Her  eyelids  widened,  she  grew  ghastly 
pale,  and  sank  into  a  chair.  I  kept  my 
eyes  riveted  on  her  as  a  trainer  on  a  sav- 
age beast.  She  tried  to  rise,  but  there  was 
no  power  in  her  limbs.  Her  fingers  twitched 
convulsively  as  they  grasped  the  arms  of 
the  chair,  and  her  bosom  panted  in  vain 
efforts  to  urge  some  sound  along  her  com- 
pressed throat.  At  last  she  whispered : 

"And  have  you  found  any  ?" 


172  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

My  only  answer  was  a  continued  stare. 

Her  eyes  shifted  restlessly  and  finally 
settled  on  the  carpet. 

We  remained  in  this  attitude  for  several 
minutes  until  she  was  able  to  say  in  a 
somewhat  stronger  and  steadier  voice : 

"May  I  drink  something?" 

"You  may  eat,  too,  if  you  have  the  ap- 
petite," I  replied  ironically. 

She  rose  weakly  and  tottered  to  her  med- 
icine cabinet.  Her  hand  trembled  so  vio- 
lently that  she  could  barely  turn  the  key, 
and  when  she  attempted  to  pour  some  wine 
or  other  liquor  into  a  glass,  she  spilled  the 
greater  part  on  the  floor.  But  at  last  she 
managed  to  gulp  down  several  small  tum- 
blerf  uls,  and  these  steadied  her. 

I  noticed  that  she  kept  her  back  towards 
me,  and  I  was  convinced  that  she  was  plan- 
ning or  attempting  some  means  of  escape 
or  retaliation.  When  she  turned  again, 
quite  a  different  woman  faced  me.  She  was 
still  pale,  but  her  eyes  glittered  ominously 
and  some  set  resolve  appeared  on  her  face. 
In  her  left  hand  she  held  a  glass  of  wine 
and  her  right  grasped  a  shelf  behind  her. 
Her  voice  was  firm  and  even  sneering  when 
she  addressed  me : 

"Perhaps  a  glass  of  wine  will  loosen  your 
tongue  and  help  you  answer  my  question?" 

I  could  see  part  of  the  third  and  fourth 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  173 

shelves  behind  her.  The  bottle  of  arsenic 
was  no  longer  on  the  fourth  where  I  had 
seen  it  before,  but  stood  now  in  the  corner 
of  the  third. 

"I  am  not  very  fond  of  arsenic,"  I  replied 
coolly. 

She  started  and  began  to  shake  again, 
spilling  part  of  the  wine  on  her  dress.  Then 
she  raised  the  glass  slowly  towards  her 
own  lips,  while  a  look  of  fearful  futility 
filled  her  eyes. 

"Drop  it!"  I  thundered  at  her  and  the 
suggestive  sound  brought  a  compelled  cry 
of  terror  from  her,  while  the  glass  crashed 
to  the  floor. 

"That  is  not  the  kind  of  death  designed 
for  you,"  I  continued,  pitilessly.  "You  are 
to  be  judged  by  the  Mosaic  Law — 'An  eye 
for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth.' 

"I  will  answer  your  question  now  with- 
out the  spur  of  your  poison.  I  have  found 
sufficient  evidence  to  convict  you  of  mur- 
der. I  saw  you  crush  the  skull  of  Calls'  in- 
fant, and  I  saw  you  hold  Calls  while  Steel 
poisoned  her." 

She  swayed  forward  and  would  have  fall- 
en, if  she  had  not  caught  hold  of  the  door 
of  the  medicine  cabinet. 

"I  know  of  the  babies  that  you  sent  to 
the  furnace,  of  those  that  you  took  to  Bal- 


174  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

timore.  I  know  of  your  blackmail  and 
quackery,  of  your  countless  illegal  opera- 
tions and  illicit  drugs. 

"If  your  crimes  had  ended  at  abortion,  I 
should  allow  you  to  live,  for  you  might 
plead  in  extenuation  the  general  practice  of 
physicians  and  midwives  all  the  world  over. 

"I  do  not  wish  to  disprove  either, 
though  I  could,  that  it  might  be  beneficial 
for  the  State  to  establish  hospitals  where 
population  might  be  controlled  before  con- 
ception or  even  before  birth,  in  preference 
to  allowing  men  and  women  of  your  and 
Pureheart's  calibre  to  fatten  on  such  as  are 
unfortunate  enough  to  fall  into  your  hands, 
when  you  destroy  parent  and  child.  Or  per- 
haps it  is  as  well  for  posterity  that  they 
are  drawn  into  your  toils  and  are  often 
rendered  impotent  to  propagate  their  kind. 

"But  when  you  apply  your  malignant 
methods  to  children  after,  birth,  you  over- 
step the  boundary  of  immunity  from  death, 
you  trespass  on  the  domain  of  the  mur- 
derer, and  the  murderer's  penalty  must  be 
your  penalty." 

Her  hand  had  been  groping,  as  I 
thought  aimlessly,  among  the  bottles  at 
her  side  and  behind  her,  while  her  gaze 
was  magnetized  to  mine.  But  suddenly  she 
lifted  one  and  flung  it  at  my  head  with  the 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  175 

power  of  desperation.  I  ducked,  and  it 
broke  against  the  wall  behind,  splashing 
its  contents  all  around  and  bleaching  every- 
thing white  that  it  touched. 

As  soon  as  she  apprehended  that  I  had 
escaped,  she  set  up  a  peal  of  piercing 
shrieks,  and  I  sprang  towards  her.  She 
raised  her  hands  to  ward  me  off,  but  I 
seized  her  throat  with  my  right  hand,  and 
smothered  her  cries. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  strangle  her 
with  my  hand.  I  forced  her  along  till  we 
reached  her  instrument  chest,  and  there 
with  my  left  hand  I  took  the  large  silver 
forceps  with  which  she  had  crushed  the 
child. 

"You  have  lived  by  the  forceps,  you  shall 
die  by  the  forceps !" 

Her  eyes  were  now  beginning  to  bulge 
and  her  tongue  to  protrude,  but  she  was 
perfectly  conscious  of  my  intentions,  and 
dug  her  nails  into  my  wrist  and  forced  the 
blood  from  it. 

If  I  had  not  been  afraid  of  reopening 
the  wound  under  my  left  arm,  I  should 
have  used  my  left  hand  to  pinion  her  throat 
with  the  forceps,  but  I  was  now  compelled 
to  throttle  her  till  her  hands  fell  and  she 
sank  to  her  knees.  Then  suddenly  I  loos- 
ened my  grasp,  changed  the  forceps  to  the 


176  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

other  hand,  and  nipped  it  round  her  throat. 

I  did  not  wish  to  prolong  her  agony  un- 
necessarily, so  tightened  the  vice  as  rapidly 
as  the  nut  would  turn.  Then  I  let  her  sink 
back  till  she  lay  on  the  floor  dead,  the  for- 
ceps still  clutching  her  throat  as  a  warn- 
ing and  premonition  to  those  who  would 
behold  her. 

I  now  opened  one  of  the  windows  that 
gave  on  to  the  back  balcony,  went  down 
to  the  basement  to  wash  my  wrist,  cover 
the  wounds  with  artificial  skin,  and  be- 
smirch myself  in  coal-dust  again. 

Then  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  saloon,  had  a 
chat  with  Rattler,  and  after  telling  him 
that  I  would  just  take  a  look  round  and 
then  turn  in,  I  went  to  the  balcony,  fired 
two  shots  from  my  revolver,  and  waited 
for  the  detectives  to  rush  up  to  me. 

In  the  most  excited  tones  I  could  affect, 
I  exclaimed: 

"Just  saw  a  man  crawl  out  of  the  mid- 
wife's flat.  Think  I  must  have  hit  him. 
She's  not  at  home,"  and  I  rushed  towards 
the  open  window,  followed  by  the  sleuths. 

"See,  her  window's  open.  I'll  get  the 
keys  downstairs." 

When  I  returned,  the  detectives  had  al- 
ready entered  by  way  of  the  window,  and 
were  standing  around  the  corpse. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  177 

(The  Chicago  Tribune  recently  claimed 
there  were  over  3,000  illegitimate  births  a 
year  in  Chicago,  and  tried  to  show  what 
became  of  these  martyrs.  Some  of  them 
were  traced  to  a  premature  death,  the  des- 
tiny of  others  was  left  in  darkness.  Was 
the  task  beyond  the  power  of  the  Tribune  ? 
No !  It  was  merely  beyond  its  courage.) 


178  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

IX. 
RATTLER,  THE  FIXER. 

Rattler  had  been  summoned  to  the  cham- 
ber by  the  detectives,  and  I  found  him 
rummaging  among  the  papers  into  whose 
secrets  I  had  already  so  deeply  delved.  His 
interests  were  twofold ;  not  only  did  he  col- 
lect the  rent  and  hand  over  the  proceeds 
to  Steel,  though  ostensibly  acting  for  the 
pseudo  landlords,  Bloater  and  his  heirs,  but 
both  he  and  Steel  were  nephews  of  Inno- 
cent, and  among  the  papers  I  had  found  a 
will  bequeathing  everything  "equally  to  my 
nephews,  Stoneheart  Steel  and  Richard 
Rattler,"  but  later  amended  so  as  to  leave 
only  one  quarter  to  the  latter  and  the  resi- 
due to  the  former. 

I  recognized  this  document  in  his  hand, 
and  an  evident  impatience  that  the  detec- 
tives might  terminate  their  domiciliary 
visit  as  soon  as  possible  and  leave  the 
apartment. 

"If  you've  got  all  the  facts,  we  may  as 
well  bury  her  at  once,"  he  said  at  last. 

"Don't  you  think  we'd  better  let  Steel 
have  a  look  at  her?" 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  179 

"Will  he  find  out  more  than  you  know  ?" 

"No,  not  that,  but  he  might  like  to  take 
a  look  over,  himself." 

"I'll  answer  to  him.  If  you're  through, 
I'll  get  the  undertakers  and  have  it  over." 

The  detectives  took  this  as  a  hint  that 
they  might  depart,  and  accordingly  left 
Rattler  and  me  alone. 

"I  want  you  to  help  me  move  this  desk 
into  my  room,  and  bury  my  aunt.  I  don't 
want  the  undertakers  to  know  she  was 
killed." 

"I'll  help  with  the  desk;  that  is,  I'll  carry 
the  papers;  but  can't  move  the  furniture 
or  the  woman.  Hurt  my  arm  lifting  the 
last  dead  woman  in  this  flat.  Ain't  going 
to  kill  myself  for  two  dead  females." 

"Alright,  I'll  get  Pureheart  to  lend  a 
hand.  Let's  get  the  papers  out  first." 

He  emptied  the  papers  into  a  sheet,  and 
we  both  carried  them  to  his  room  adjoining 
the  hall  above  the  saloon.  I  was  until 
then  unaware  that  he  slept  on  the  prem- 
ises or  that  there  was  a  room  there,  or  I 
should  have  extended  my  periscopic  per- 
forations to  this  part  of  the  premises.  But 
I  now  determined  to  transfer  Innocent's 
periscope  to  Rattler's  room.  I  had  already 
discovered,  since  taking  up  my  residence 
in  the  basement,  a  private  room  in  the  sa- 
loon opening  on  to  the  basement  steps,  and 


180  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

had  bored  a  hole  large  enough  to  hear  with 
the  help  of  a  microphone  what  was  said, 
though  I  dared  not  risk  the  insertion  of  a 
periscope. 

As  I  was  not  interested  in  the  imminent 
interment  of  the  object  of  the  lex  tcdionis, 
I  sought  a  much  needed  rest,  and  awoke 
after  midnight  refreshed  and  prepared  to 
continue  my  sweep  of  the  Augean  Stable. 

Naturally  my  curiosity  now  centered 
around  the  saloon,  and  I  had  become  a  con- 
firmed convivialist.  Although  it  was  near 
closing  time,  I  noticed  an  unusual  number 
of  evil-looking  characters  still  ordering 
drinks  in  a  manner  that  did  not  presage 
their  early  departure.  Immediately  before 
the  doors  were  locked,  a  gentlemanly-look- 
ing crook  sauntered  in,  and,  as  soon  as  Rat- 
tler caught  sight  of  him,  he  beckoned  him 
to  follow,  and  they  both  disappeared  in 
the  direction  of  the  basement  stairs.  I 
slipped  out  and  downstairs  at  once,  and 
was  soon  attentively  listening  at  my  micro- 
phone. 

"Can  you  do  it  ?"  I  heard  Rattler  enquire. 

"What's  it  worth?"  replied  the  other. 

"Name  your  figure." 

"Five  hundred." 

'Til  pay  it." 

"When  you  want  it  done?" 

"Right  away." 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  181 

"Shall  I  work  here?" 
"I'll  fix  you  up  in  my  room  upstairs.  I've 
got  to  see  the  boys  here." 

"What  do  you  want  said  exactly?" 
"Make  it  read  like  this : 

'After  due  consideration,  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  my  nephew,  Stoneheart  Steel, 
does  not  require  my  money  as  much  as  my 
nephew,  Richard  Rattler,  does.  I  therefore  will 
and  bequeath  all  I  possess  to  Richard  Rattler. 
INNOCENT  IMMUNE.' 

"And  date  it  today,  or  rather  yesterday. 
Come  along!" 

It  was  no  use  my  following  them,  as  I 
would  probably  not  gain  any  further  in- 
formation, even  if  I  could  watch  the  forger 
at  work.  Accordingly  I  remained  where 
I  was  to  learn  what  the  "boys"  had  to  im- 
part. In  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  I  again 
heard  voices  and  the  most  discordant  dia- 
logues it  has  been  my  lot  to  listen  to. 

I  was  evidently  an  auditor  at  the  pro- 
ceedings of  an  infamous  pay-off  joint.  Dif- 
ferent voices  became  audible  in  their  turn, 
and  amid  asseverating  curses  and  ribald 
interruptions  on  the  part  of  Rattler,  either 
recounted  or  were  forced  to  confess  foul 
deeds  perpetrated  and  felonous  spoils 
filched.  And  then  as  a  climax,  and  after 
heated  haggling  and  thumb-screw  threats, 


182  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

each  handed  over  a  percentage  of  his  ill- 
gotten  gains  with  a  rake-off  for  the  fixer, 
Rattler. 

I  calculated  the  percentage  of  that  night 
to  exceed  $5,000. 

Towards  three  in  the  morning  Rattler 
came  down  the  stairs  and  walked  towards 
my  room.  While  he  pounded  at  my  door,  I 
slipped  out,  and  then  when  I  descended 
made  believe  that  I  had  been  upstairs. 

"Up  early,"  he  remarked  enquiringly. 

"Too  hot  to  sleep  down  here.  Went  up 
for  a  whiff  of  air.  What  about  a  fan  ?" 

"Never  mind  a  fan.  I'll  give  you  all  the 
air  you  want.  Can  you  drive  a  machine?" 

I  nodded  affirmatively. 

"Must  collect  last  month's  rent.  Come 
up  to  the  garage,  and  we'll  get  out  at  once." 

It  struck  me  as  being  an  unearthly  hour 
for  rent  collecting,  but  perhaps  he  was  go- 
ing into  the  country.  My  surmise  seemed 
to  be  verified,  when  I  noticed  he  steered 
the  car  in  the  direction  of  the  West  Side. 
But  he  halted  before  a  large  flat  building 
when  we  reached  3000. 

"Watch  this,"  he  said,  shifting  a  satchel 
to  my  side  and  leaping  from  the  machine. 
"If  any  cops  ask  questions,  say  'Rattle- 
snakes.' They  know  I  got  to  collect  rent 
here.  If  any  crooks  or  private  tecs  come 
around,  and  there's  no  cop  near,  beat  it 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  183 

home,  and  lie  low.  Keep  the  power  on,  and 
your  gun  handy.  I'll  be  down  in  a  second. 
Get  me?" 

I  winked. 

He  ran  into  the  hall  of  the  building,  and 
left  me  with  the  car  drawn  up  where  no 
lights  would  expose  me  to  view.  I  immedi- 
ately tried  to  open  the  satchel,  but  it  was 
locked. 

A  few  seconds  later  another  machine 
stopped  right  in  front  of  the  hall  door,  and 
a  young  fellow  in  evening  dress  handed  out 
a  lady  of  easy  virtue  and  hard  bargains. 
They  disappeared  into  what  I  was  now  con- 
vinced was  a  house  of  assignation,  an  aga- 
pemone.  The  "rent"  that  Rattler  collected 

"While  nymphs  take  treats,  or  assignations 
give," 

was  evidently  protection  graft. 

No  sooner  had  this  conviction  dawned 
upon  me  than  the  fixer  appeared  and 
sprang  into  the  car. 

"Anyone  around  ?"  he  panted  excitedly. 

I  shook  my  head. 

He  then  selected  a  key  from  a  heavy 
bunch  at  his  side,  turned  the  lock  of  the 
satchel,  took  a  heavy  wad  of  bills  from  his 
pocket,  and  dropped  it  hurriedly  in,  but  not 
before  I  had  espied  several  other  thick  rolls 


184  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

of  notes  reposing  at  the  bottom.  He  then 
sped  away  towards  the  South  Side. 

When  he  closed  the  satchel,  I  noticed  he 
forgot  to  turn  the  key,  and  I  determined 
to  make  use  of  my  opportunity  at  our  next 
halt ;  for  I  presumed  from  the  direction  we 
were  taking  that  there  was  some  more 
"rent"  to  be  collected.  But  why  did  he 
trust  me  with  all  this  money  ?  I  could  only 
surmise  that  he  was  in  some  extraordinary 
hurry  to  get  in  this  "rent,"  and  had  some 
desperate  design  in  view.  His  excited  ex- 
terior lent  color  to  my  theory. 

At  our  second  halt  I  peeped  into  the  sat- 
chel. There  was  nothing  but  bills  and  the 
will,  which  I  discovered  by  a  hasty  look  to 
have  been  forged  in  Rattler's  favor. 

I  was  almost  discovered  in  these  investi- 
gations by  a  policeman. 

"What  news?"  enquired  the  groggy 
guardian  of  the  law. 

"Rattlesnakes !"  I  replied  with  a  grin. 

The  shibboleth  worked  like  a  charm,  and 
I  appreciated  the  hasty  retreat  beaten 
by  the  blue-coated  cop.  Who,  especially 
one  suffering  from  deceptio  visus,  cares  to 
tackle  "Rattlesnakes"  at  4  A.  M.  ? 

At  our  fifth  halt  (we  made  nine  that 
night  or  rather  morning),  I  was  accosted 
by  a  sprightly  young  fitte  de  joie  who  was 
wandering  home  alone. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  185 

"What  you  wait  for?"  she  enquired  in 
her  charming  French  accent. 

I  replied  in  French,  and  she  uttered  a  cry 
of  pleasure  to  hear  it.  As  best  I  could,  I 
explained  we  were  collecting  "rent,"  or  at 
least  I  surmised  we  were. 

A  sudden  frown  spread  over  her  finely 
chiselled  features,  and  I  hastened  to  dis- 
claim any  connection  with  Rattler's  errand. 

"I'm  only  looking  after  the  car,  Made- 
moiselle, and  I  love  him  and  his  trade  less 
than  you  do,"  I  whispered  confidentially. 

Her  frown  relaxed. 

"What's  he  look  like?" 

I  described  him. 

"Sacre  maquereau!"  she  hissed.  "He 
owes  me  ten  dollars,  and  he  hit  me.  I'd  like 
to  knife  him." 

"I  don't  mind  helping  you,"  I  answered 
in  sympathy. 

She  laid  one  delicate  little  hand  on  mine, 
and  the  other  she  placed  on  my  shoulder. 

"I  love  you,"  she  exclaimed  impetuously. 
"Come  here  to-morrow  and  ask  for  Mimi, 
number  fourteen." 

"I'll  come  and  see  you  Mademoiselle,  but 
I  can't  promise  it'll  be  to-morrow  night  or 
rather  to-night,  because  I  have  another 
rendezvous.  But  go  away  now,  there  comes 
Rattlesnakes." 

She  cast  a  look  of  deep  hatred  at  her 


186  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

debtor,  and  I  almost  feared  that  she  would 
attack  him  there  and  then.  If  she  had  had 
a  weapon  handy,  I  believe  she  would  not 
have  been  able  to  restrain  herself.  But  she 
slipped  into  the  shadow  before  Rattler  rec- 
ognized her  or  that  she  had  been  speaking 
to  me. 

Our  last  stop,  before  we  turned  home- 
ward, was  in  a  rather  genteel  neighbor- 
hood. On  this  occasion  Rattler  took  the 
bag  with  him,  and  rang  the  basement  bell 
of  a  single-storied  house  on  the  facade  of 
which  I  noticed  a  highly-polished  brass 
plate  bearing  the  legend  "Attorney  at 
Law,"  and  some  downtown  office  address. 
He  pressed  the  button  intermittently  for  at 
least  ten  minutes  before  he  was  admitted, 
and  it  was  daylight  before  he  reappeared 
minus  the  satchel. 

We  whirled  home  in  silence,  and  I  noticed 
that  a  look  of  intense  satisfaction  had  now 
replaced  the  anxious  and  urgent  light  in 
his  eyes. 

I  had  had  no  sleep  that  night,  and  even 
in  a  healthy  condition  I  always  make  it  a 
rule  to  have  between  seven  and  eight 
hours'  repose.  I  had  discovered  during  my 
term  of  active  military  service,  when  I  was 
compelled  to  remain  in  the  saddle  for  48 
hours  at  a  stretch  and  often  for  three  days 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  187 

and  nights,  that  my  courage  waned  in  pro- 
portion to  the  amount  of  sleep  I  missed. 
Although  my  requirements  in  this  respect 
diminish  as  I  grow  older,  on  this  occasion  I 
felt  it  my  first  duty  to  make  up  for  lost 
rest,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  most  great 
men  are  known  to  have  been  content  with 
about  four  hours,  and  I  consider  good  ex- 
amples worthy  of  imitation. 

That  night  I  kept  a  sharp  lookout  for 
Steel,  as  I  expected  his  encounter  with  his 
cousin  would  be  worth  overhearing  and 
perhaps  witnessing.  Towards  midnight  he 
dashed  up  in  his  racer,  and  before  he  could 
alight,  one  of  the  detectives  who  had  ex- 
amined the  corpus  delicti  in  Innocent's 
room,  stepped  up  to  him  and  evidently  im- 
parted the  events  of  the  day.  I  did  not  stop 
to  note  the  effects  of  the  news,  but  hurried 
into  the  saloon. 

In  a  few  minutes  Steel  appeared  affect- 
ing complete  nonchalance.  Rattler,  how- 
ever, could  not  hide  his  deep  concern  as  his 
cousin  approached  him. 

I  was  unable  to  catch  their  words,  but 
noticed  Steel's  bullying  scowl,  and  in  a  few 
moments  he  walked  off  in  the  direction  of 
the  room  on  the  basement  stair,  followed 
unwillingly  and  somewhat  timorously  by 
Rattler. 

Their  departure  was  the  signal  for  my 


188  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

own  descent,  but  in  a  roundabout  way,  to 
the  microphone. 

"You  were  in  a  hell  of  hurry  to  bury 
her,"  I  heard  Steel  say  when  I  reached  my 
station. 

"I  was  afraid  some  un  might  come  along 
and  find  out  she  was  strangled,"  apologized 
Rattler  somewhat  lamely. 

"You  needn't  have  let  'em  see  her." 

"Didn't  think  of  that." 

"Who  d'ye  think  did  it  and  why?" 

"Dunno." 

"Rogers  told  me  they  didn't  take  any- 
thing. Did  you  look  through  her  papers  ?" 

There  was  a  long  pause  before  Rattler 
replied  almost  inaudibly. 

"Yah,  I  took  'em  all  into  my  room,  to  be 
on  the  safe  side." 

"The  devil  you  did,"  shouted  Steel,  "and 
what  ye  do  that  for  ?" 

"Thought  she  might  have  some  papers 
that  nobody  but  us  ought  to  see." 

"Did  you  find  the  will?" 

"Yah,  and  I  took  it  to  my  attorney." 

"Oh !  You  did,  did  you  ?  And  what  was 
your  reason  for  that?"  sneered  his  inter- 
locutor. 

Rattler's  voice  was  loud  and  defiant  when 
he  retorted: 

"Because  I  read  it,  and  noticed  you'd 
made  her  change  it  and  leave  three  quar- 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  189 

ters  to  you  and  only  one  quarter  to  me.  But 
she  came  to  her  senses,  and  left  it  all  to  me 
at  last." 

"So,"  drawled  Steel  sarcastically,  "that's 
interesting,  very  interesting.  And  when 
did  our  dear  aunt  come  to  her  senses,  my 
dear  cousin?" 

"Didn't  look  at  the  date." 

"That's  strange!  You  were  so  careful 
about  everything  else." 

Then  his  voice  changed  and  rang  out 
sharply : 

"That  will  will  bear  close  inspection,  and 
your  hurry  to  bury  your  dear  aunt,  cross- 
examination.  I  must  see  that  will." 

"You  can  see  it  at  my  attorney's,"  re- 
joined Rattler  aggressively. 

There  was  a  long  silence,  then  Steel  en- 
quired, and  I  heard  the  menace  in  his  voice : 

"The  boys  were  here  last  night.  What's 
the  figure?" 

"I  kept  it  on  account  of  the  ten  thousand 
you  owe  me  as  my  share." 

"You're  getting  very  independent,  my 
dear  cousin.  But  I'd  like  to  know  how  much 
it  was." 

"Two  thou." 

"I'll  have  to  check  that  up.  Should  have 
been  double.  Rogers  told  me  that  you  were 
out  for  a  spin  this  morning.  Where  did 
you  go  with  the  janitor?" 


190  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"I'm  not  compelled  to  give  you  an  ac- 
count of  all  my  movements.  But  if  you'd 
like  to  know,  I  went  round  to  the  'houses.'  " 

"Did  you  go  to  see  that  little  kid  that 
you  owe  $10  to,  and  who  you  punched  for 
dunning  you,  or  did  you  go  on  business  ?" 

"I  collected  about  $1,100." 

"And  I  expect  you  applied  it  as  you  did 
what  the  'boys'  brought  ?  I  must  go  round 
and  see  the  ladies.  Last  time  it  was 
$3,000." 

Then  his  tones  changed  abruptly  and  he 
hurled  between  his  teeth : 

"I'll  give  you  half  an  hour  to  hand  over 
the  swag  and  till  9  o'clock  to-morrow  to  get 
me  that  will." 

I  heard  footsteps,  an  opening  door,  then 
Rattler's  voice: 

"I'll  see  you  in  hell  first!" 

There  was  a  sudden  rush,  and  a  body 
came  tumbling  down  the  basement  steps. 
I  peered  between  the  cases  and  barrels 
which  I  had  arranged  to  shield  me,  and 
my  eyes,  accustomed  to  the  obscurity, 
made  out  the  figure  of  Rattler  rising  slow- 
ly to  his  knees.  A  moment  later  Steel's 
outlines  came  into  view. 

They  were  both  powerful  men  inured  to 
the  eventualities  of  a  rough-and-tumble 
life.  Rattler  might  have  been  the  heavier 
and  stronger,  but  Steel  possessed  intelli- 
gence and  science. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  191 

The  former  crouched  in  silence  till  his 
assailant  came  within  reach,  then  he  leapt 
at  him  like  a  lion,  and  they  both  crashed 
to  the  floor.  It  was  too  dark,  and  I  was  not 
favorably  situated  to  witness  all  the  vicis- 
situdes of  this  consanguineous  contest. 

Neither  of  them  said  anything  as  they 
rolled  hither  and  thither;  it  was  only 
their  violent  panting  that  gave  me  an  ink- 
ling of  the  progress  of  the  battle. 

At  last  their  struggles  ceased,  and  they 
lay  quiet  for  several  minutes. 

Then  I  noticed  the  tall  figure  of  Steel 
rise  laboriously  from  his  prostrate  oppo- 
nent, and  stand  over  him  in  silence  as  if 
contemplating  the  vindication  of  his  own 
prowess. 

After  what  might  have  been  a  quarter 
of  an  hour's  reflection  in  this  immobile  at- 
titude, he  moved  away  towards  the  door  by 
which  he  had  descended.  This  he  closed 
and  bolted.  The  other  doors  which  gave 
access  to  the  saloon  basement  were  simi- 
larly secured.  Then  he  made  the  tour  of 
the  large  vats  which  encircled  the  cellar, 
and  examined  each  one  carefully.  The  in- 
spection completed,  he  returned  to  the  mo- 
tionless body  of  his  cousin,  lifted  it  with 
apparent  effort  and  carried  it  towards  one 
of  the  vats.  With  greater  difficulty  he  at- 
tempted to  raise  the  body  to  the  top  of 


192  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

the  vat,  but  his  strength  proved  inadequate, 
and  he  let  the  body  sink  to  the  ground 
again. 

Overcome  by  the  exertion,  he  sat  down 
on  the  ledge  which  projected  beyond  the 
vat,  and  looked  around  in  search  of  some 
appliance  to  aid  him  in  his  purpose.  A  skid 
standing  in  a  corner  attracted  his  atten- 
tion. He  sprang  to  his  feet,  stepped  swiftly 
to  the  skid,  and  carried  it  to  the  vat.  Using 
this  as  an  inclined  plane  and  a  ladder,  he 
pushed  the  body  before  him  to  the  top,  and 
then  allowed  it  to  slide  silently  into  the 
liquor  which  the  vat  no  doubt  contained. 

Thus  immersed  in  the  element  with 
which  he  was  saturated  and  with  which 
he  had  hastened  the  end  of  innum- 
erable others,  Rattler,  if  not  already  dead, 
had  meted  out  to  him  through  some  in- 
scrutable retributive  justice  a  death 
worthy  of  his  life. 

His  sexton,  slayer,  and  cousin  did  not 
stop  to  mourn  or  exult,  but  immediately 
closed  the  lid  of  the  vat,  and  left  the  base- 
ment by  a  different  door  from  which  he  had 
entered.  I  allowed  him  several  minutes  to 
precede  me,  and  then  left  my  lurking  place, 
and  proceeded  to  the  saloon  again. 

In  a  few  minutes  Steel  entered  the  bar, 
asked  the  tender  for  a  drink,  for  which  he 
did  not  pay,  and  brought  it  over  to  the 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  193 

table  where  I  sat.  He  had  changed  his 
clothes,  had  a  wash  and  brush  up,  and  the 
closest  observer  would  not  have  recognized 
in  this  spruce  and  collected  person  the  in- 
dividual who  had  only  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
before  sent  a  relative  to  his  doom  and  con- 
signed him  to  his  sepulchre. 

"Would  you  remember  where  you  went 
last  night?"  he  enquired  suavely. 

-"Guess  some,  not  all,"  I  replied. 

"I  wanted  to  send  you  to  the  attorney 
where  Rattler  left  some  papers.  Do  you 
remember  his  office  ?" 

I  was  certain  that  he  did  not  know  the 
attorney  or  his  address  himself,  but  I  al- 
lowed him  to  draw  me. 

"Yep,  his  name's  ,  and  Rattler 

left  the  bag  and  a  bunch  of  greenbacks 
there  too,"  I  volunteered  ingenuously. 

"Fine !  You've  got  a  head  on  your  shoul- 
ders. Exactly  what  I  wanted  to  send  you 
for.  Rattler  was  afraid  to  keep  'em  here. 
Just  wait  five  minutes." 

He  rose  and  entered  a  telephone  booth. 
When  he  returned  to  me,  he  beckoned  to 
the  bar-tender  to  approach  us. 

"Rattler's  gone  on  his  vacation  for  a 
couple  of  weeks.  Hand  over  the  cash  and 
take  your  orders  from  him,"  he  said,  point- 
ing to  me,  "when  I'm  not  here.  Go  on!" 
and  he  ordered  the  man  back  to  his  work 
with  a  wave  of  his  hand. 


194  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

In  all  my  ambitions  for  new  experiences, 
I  had  never  aspired  to  the  dignity  of  a  sa- 
loon-keeper, but  I  was  now  virtually  in  the 
position  of  one  who  has  greatness  thrust 
upon  him.  Without  such  compulsion  I 
should  never  have  achieved  this  altitude. 
I  accordingly  bowed  to  the  inevitable,  took 
my  preferment  with  beseeming  modesty, 
and  determined  not  to  be  puffed  up  with 
overweening  pride. 

"Rattler  runs  an  ad.,"  began  Steel,  "in 
the  afternoon  papers  for  performers. 
When  the  girls  turn  up,  you  tell  'em  exper- 
ience isn't  necessary.  All  they  have  to  do 
is  to  dance  with  'reubens/  and  when  you 
blow  the  whistle  every  minute,  they've  got 
to  line  the  men  up  against  the  mahogany 
to  buy  drinks.  The  bar-tender  sells  'em 
two  small  whisky  glasses  filled  with  a  soft 
drink  and  charges  the  rube  15  cents.  A 
nickel  of  that  money  goes  to  the  girl,  you 
get  the  second  nickel,  and  the  bar  gets  the 
third  nickel.  Of  course,  if  they  want  to 
order  something  stronger,  nobody  will  re- 
fuse to  serve  'em.  Tell  the  kids  a  'live 
wire'  can  make  as  high  as  $15  a  night. 
Get  me?" 

I  nodded. 

By  the  time  I  had  received  sufficient  in- 
struction to  enable  me  to  practise  my  new 
vocation  with  profit,  the  gentlemanly  look- 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  195 

ing  crook  who  had  forged  the  will  in  Rat- 
tler's favor  appeared  on  the  scene,  appar- 
ently in  response  to  Steel's  'phone  call,  for 
he  approached  our  table,  Steel  immediately 
retired  with  him  to  the  room  of  his  former 
exploits,  and  I  was  told  to  wait  where  I 
was  for  their  return. 

In  half  an  hour  Steel  brought  me  a 
sealed  envelope  addressed  to  the  attorney 
Rattler  had  visited,  told  me  to  take  the 
street-car  to  my  destination,  and,  if  asked 
who  had  sent  me,  to  answer,  Rattler.  I  no- 
ticed that  the  handwriting  was  an  excellent 
forgery  of  Rattler's  scrawl,  and  the  en- 
velope probably  contained  a  request  for  the 
return  of  the  will  and  the  money,  but,  as 
I  was  sure  I  should  be  shadowed  on  my 
errand,  I  felt  that  I  should  not  be  able  to 
verify  this. 

Thus  was  I  delegated  a  Messenger  of 
Hell. 


196  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 


X. 
WAGINSKY,  THE  WITTOL. 

A  friend  of  mine,  who  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  read  the  previous  chapters  of 
this  story,  expressed  the  fear  that  it  would 
not  sell. 

"Your  criticisms  of  American  morals  are 
too  personal  to  be  palatable,"  he  said. 

"Are  they  true?"  I  enquired. 

"I  cannot  deny  that  they  are  true,  but 
you  should  never  show  up  a  man's  weak- 
nesses or  those  of  his  kin  to  his  face.  Now, 
for  instance,  if  you  had  gone  after  the 
'dayum  furriner,'  the  'dayum  Dutchman,' 
the  'dayum  Mick,'  the  'dayum  Dago'  or  the 
'dayum  Greaser,'  the  American  public 
would  applaud  your  castigation  of  them  to 
the  re-echo,  but  now  they  won't  buy  you. 
The  Americans  like  flattery,  you  know.  To 
be  popular  you  must  be  pleasing." 

"Charms  strike  the  sight,  but  merit  wins 
the  soul,"  I  quoted  sententiously  and  rather 
too  egotistically  for  a  modest  man.  "You 
know  that  of  greater  importance  to  me 
than  the  almighty  dollar  is  the  omnipotent 


197 

truth.    'That  golden  key  that  opes  the  pal- 
ace of  eternity/  " 

"I'm  afraid  you  will  have  little  chance  of 
entering  the  palace  of  eternity.  You  have 
taken  the  law  into  your  own  hands  and  the 
lives  of  many." 

"I  know  of  no  divine  injunction  against 
my  actions,  yet,  as  I  have  told  you  before, 
I  do  not  justify  myself,  I  merely  condone 
under  present  extenuating  conditions.  I  am 
an  opponent  of  capital  punishment,  but  I 
have  no  means  of  reformatory  restraint  at 
my  disposal.  I  have  always  advocated  re- 
spect for  the  law,  but  you  know  as  well  as 
I  do  that  evasion  and  corruption  of  the  law 
are  general  in  this  country,  and,  if  I  ap- 
pealed to  the  law,  the  men  and  women 
whom  I  have  hunted  and  will  hunt  to  their 
doom  would  have  found  means  of  frustrat- 
ing my  efforts. 

"That  brings  us  back  to  our  starting 
point — your  opinion  that  Americans  will 
resent  my  caustic  criticisms. 

"  'He  makes  no  friend  who  never  made 
a  foe.' 

"If  I  were  not  indifferent  to,  in  fact  an 
audacious  antagonist  of,  American  society, 
I  should  not  have  taken  up  this  purging 
profession.  But  you  are  mistaken  when 
you  think  that  the  best  American  writers 
are  whitewashers. 


198  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"Look  at  this  page  of  the  Sunday  Tri- 
bune. These  writers  are  supposed  to  be 
among  the  best,  and  they  do  nothing  week 
after  week  but  pull  American  society  to 
bits.  Their  articles  to-day  do  not  happen 
to  be  apropos  to  our  subject,  but  listen  to 
what  they  say. 

Yes,  there  is  no  doubt  of  it,  'tis  the  American 
from  and  of  the  United  States  upon  whom  the 
Mexicans  look  as  the  foreigner  most  foreign 
to  their  heart  and  mind,  the  gringo  maldito. 
This  being  true,  why  is  it  true?  It  will  not 
do  to  answer  the  question  in  the  would-be 
superior  jingo  way,  by  shrugging  shoulders  and 
smiling  contemptuously  and  drooling  out  some 
jeering  sentences  to  the  effect  that  "The — uh — 
dayum  Greasers — uh — are  nothing  but  dayum 
savidges  ennyhow — uh — and  don't  like  us  be- 
cause they've  got  no  better  sense — uh — and 
hate  all  our  glorious  cee-vee-ly-zashun — uh — 
and  it  don't  make  a  dayum  bit  of  difference 
ennyway  what  those  Greasers  think  of  US — 
uh — "et  cetera,  ad  nauseam. 

Because  that  kind  of  jingo  drivel  is  quite 
as  false  as  it  is  idiotic.  It  is  not  a  particle  less 
false  and  idiotic  than  was  and  is  the  jingo 
drivel,  lamentably  common  in  these  United 
States  for  the  last  half  century  or  so,  which 
pronounced  US  able  to  "lick  'em  all — uh;  let 
'em  all  come — uh;  lick  the  whole  world — uh — ; 
hands  down,"  et  cetera,  ad  majorem  nauseam, 
and  which  represents  a  species  of  national  im- 
becility that  has  left  us  unprepared,  practically 
helpless,  in  the  event  of  any  serious  martial 
trouble.  Wherefore,  it  could  not  possibly  be 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  199 

more  fearfully  false   and  disgustingly  idiotic 
than  it  is. 

Granted  the  right  to  psychologize  with  a 
people  instead  of  an  individual  for  a  subject, 
one  may  justly  hold  that  the  worst  psychic 
blemish,  fault,  or  evil  of  the  American  nation 
is  the  puerile  self-admiration  to  which  such 
jingoistic  self-praise,  always  implying  jingo- 
istic contempt  for  others,  as  has  been  instanced 
in  preceding  paragraphs,  bears  witness  un- 
deniably. 

"And  the  other,  who  also  is  a  professor 
at  a  great  American  university  and  a  man 
who  had  travelled  much  and  is  therefore 
able  to  judge  and  compare,  writes  in  a  sim- 
ilar strain  in  spite  of  the  ill-will  of  his  coun- 
trymen." 

It  is  not  altogether  Mr.  Wilson's  brand  of 
neutrality,  his  temporizing  attitude  of  mind 
and  soul,  the  blundering  of  the  Democratic 
administration  from  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
although  without  any  doubt  our  president  by 
expressing  the  more  timid,  cowardly,  and  self- 
ish desires  of  the  people  has  had  an  enormous 
influence  in  making  them  the  prevailing  will  of 
the  nation.  It  is  not  the  unimaginative  and 
gross  pacifism  of  large  sections  of  our  country, 
too  remote  apparently  from  the  actualities  of 
any  life  outside  their  own  placid  horizons  to 
care  much  of  what  is  happening  to  the  whole 
world.  It  is  not  the  confused,  unthinking  way 
in  which  Americans  have  long  been  accustomed 
to  express  their  political  purposes.  It  is  not 
wholly  our  low  grade  politicians  who  have 


200  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

betrayed  us,  nor  the  fact  that  during  two  years 
of  the  most  tremendous  object-lesson  humanity 
has  ever  had  offered  to  it  we  have  talked  much 
and  done  practically  nothing  to  prepare  our- 
selves for  either  peace  or  war.  It  is  not  any 
one  or  all  of  these  reasons  which  convince  me, 
for  instance,  that  Mr.  Wells  is  right,  that  the 
United  States  of  America  will  play  no  im- 
portant role  such  as  it  might  easily  have  played 
in  settling  the  destinies  of  the  world  for  the 
next  hundreds  of  years,  in  making  the  vision 
of  international  peace  something  more  than  a 
forensic  entertainment.  It  is,  rather,  the  spirit 
of  our  people  to-day  as  displayed  in  their  activi- 
ties and  preoccupations,  also  by  the  blunt 
utterances  of  many  of  our  supposedly  enlight- 
ened citizens. 

What  precious  thing  beyond  self-complacency, 
"dreams  of  aloofness  and  ineffable  superiority," 
should  we  abandon  by  frankly  admitting  that 
we  are  one  of  the  world's  family  of  great 
nations,  vitally  concerned  in  all  that  concerns 
them,  above  all,  concerned  in  maintaining  peace 
among  them? 

"You  see  I  am  not  alone  in  my  refusal  to 
admire  these  Snobs  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  this  is 
the  mildest  stuff  I  have  read  for  months. 
If  I  can  give  these  self-complacent  Yankees 
a  jolt  on  their  pedestal,  I  am  merely  follow- 
ing the  prevailing  fashion  of  their  best 
scribes. 

"Now  let  me  get  to  the  story  of  Wagin- 
sky.  It  will  please  you,  as  I  did  not  kill 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  201 

anyone   or   take   the   law   into   my   own 
hands." 

The  drug-store  adjoined  the  saloon,  and 
as  I  had  now  been  virtually  initiated  into 
the  arcana  of  the  gang,  I  had  ample  oppor- 
tunities for  spying  on  Waginsky's  activ- 
ities, learning  the  subterfuges  resorted  to 
by  dope  fiends  under  the  new  law,  and  how 
they  lie,  rob,  and  murder  to  procure  drugs. 

The  Harrison  law  prohibits  all  persons 
from  selling  or  giving  away  habit  forming 
drugs  without  a  physician's  prescription  or 
under  the  direct  instruction  of  a  physician. 
The  penalty  for  violation  is  a  fine  of  not 
more  than  $2,000  or  imprisonment  for  not 
more  than  five  years  or  both.  That  doc- 
tors, dentists,  druggists,  veterinarians  or 
others  may  obtain  them,  the  statute  pro- 
vides that  they  shall  register  at  the  United 
States  internal  revenue  office,  pay  a  small 
license  fee  and  obtain  a  supply  of  100 
blanks,  which,  when  properly  filled  out,  es- 
tablish their  right  to  purchase  morphine, 
cocaine,  heroin  or  any  of  their  derivatives 
for  use  in  their  business. 

Waginsky  was  not  adverse  to  selling 
drugs  without  a  permit,  though  I  noticed 
that  he  often  sent  his  clients,  especially  if 
they  were  new  to  him  and  came  merely  on 
the  introduction  of  a  regular  friend,  up  to 


202  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

Dr.  Pureheart  for  a  prescription,  which 
was  very  rarely  refused. 

His  homemade  candy,  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  which  I  discovered  Madame  Coupler 
was  his  chief  aid,  was  very  popular  among 
the  boys  and  girls  who  attended  the  school 
in  the  rear  block,  and  I  could  not  under- 
stand why  these  children  paid  $1  and  $1.50 
a  pound  for  it,  till  I  stole  some  myself,  and 
found  it  filled  with  different  varieties  of 
dope. 

Since  so  many  of  Steel's  associates  had 
been  removed  from  their  activities,  Wago 
was  allowed  to  fawn  upon  his  tyrant,  who 
often  condescended  to  take  a  drink  with 
his  satellite  and  honor  him  with  his  conver- 
sation. 

One  evening  I  overheard  Steel  telling 
him  a  story  that  interested  him  much.  A 
young  man  had  presented  himself  at  the 
police  station  and  made  a  confession  to  the 
effect  that  he  and  a  former  engraver  in  the 
United  States  treasury  department  were 
living  in  a  houseboat  on  the  river  and  were 
there  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  bogus 
banknotes.  He  told  them  that  he  had  be- 
come conscience-stricken  and  had  decided 
to  give  himself  up  and  take  his  punishment. 
His  story  was  so  plausible  and  told  with 
such  a  wealth  of  detail  that  he  had  fooled 
even  Steel  himself. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  203 

After  the  confession,  Steel  went  on  to  re- 
count, a  look  of  intense  agony  had  spread 
over  the  young  man's  face,  he  pressed  his 
knuckles  into  the  pit  of  his  stomach  and 
writhed  in  apparent  torture.  He  explained 
that  he  was  suffering  from  cramps,  was 
taken  to  a  city  dispensary,  and  there  sev- 
eral injections  of  morphine  were  admin- 
istered. 

Then  came  the  climax  to  the  tale.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  whole  demeanor  of  the 
penitent  had  changed.  He  had  become 
ecstatically  happy,  and  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  drug  had  admitted  that  his 
whole  story  was  a  mere  fabrication,  a 
dodge  to  obtain  a  "shot"  of  the  drug  for 
which  he  craved. 

"That's  a  good  one,"  laughed  Wago  in 
undisguised  admiration.  "Pureheart  told 
me  one  the  other  day  that  he  got  at  the 
Federal  Building,  but  it's  not  half  as  good 
as  yours.  I'll  tell  it  you,  if  you  like." 

Stoneheart's  familiarity  seemed  to  em- 
bolden him,  and  he  immediately  changed 
his  mind  and  thought  a  yarn  of  his  own 
without  the  additional  glamour  of  Pure- 
heart's  name  might  be  ventured : 

"But  first  I'll  tell  you  one  of  my  own,  how 
I  cured  Righteous,  and  then  how  one  of  my 
clients  left  the  habit  behind  him  at  Joliet, 
dog  gast  him. 


204  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"You  know  our  former  janitor  used  to 
take  26  grains  of  morphine  a  day,  and  none 
of  us  could  get  any  hot  water  or  steam 
when  he  was  doped.  He  gave  me  $50  to 
buy  him  a  supply,  and  I  agreed  to  get  it 
for  him,  if  he  allowed  me  to  administer  it. 
When  he  came  for  his  shot  every  morning, 
I  reduced  the  injections  a  quarter  of  a 
grain  a  day  and  substituted  quinine.  No- 
body can  tell  the  difference  between  pow- 
dered morphine  and  quinine,  you  know.  At 
last  I  gave  him  pure  quinine,  and  that's 
what  he  was  taking  when  he  disappeared." 

"I  couldn't  account  for  his  loss  of  mem- 
ory," grunted  Steel,  "but  now  I  understand, 
it  was  your  quinine." 

"Yes,  quinine  has  that  effect,"  endorsed 
Wago  as  if  paying  a  tribute  to  the  detec- 
tive's toxicological  acumen.  "Don't  you 
think  it  was  a  good  dodge  of  mine?"  he 
continued,  seeking  an  expression  of  ap- 
proval. 

"Let's  hear  the  other,"  replied  Steel, 
ignoring  the  question. 

"You  remember  that  young  assistant  in- 
structor of  chemistry  that  was  picked  up 
in  the  streets  by  the  police  and  who  was  in 
the  habit  of  spending  Saturday  night  up- 
stairs with  Yvette?  He  used  to  buy  $1 
worth  of  morphine  from  me  and  sell  half 
of  it  to  his  chums  for  $1.  They  put  him 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  205 

away  for  four  months,  but  let  him  out 
after  he  had  served  three.  That  cured 
him ;  I  lost  a  regular  customer,  and  Yvette 
her  best  sucker." 

"I've  heard  that  before,"  drawled  Steel. 
"Give  us  Pureheart's." 

Somewhat  crestfallen  at  this  lack  of  ap- 
preciation, Wago  continued: 

"One  of  his  ovariotomy  clients  who  had 
been  using  dope  for  30  years  registered  as 
a  physician  and  received  a  book  of  blanks, 
but  before  she  could  use  any,  she  was  de- 
tected, and  fined  $500  for  riiaking  a  false 
affidavit.  She  had  given  Pureheart  as  a 
reference,  and  that's  how  he  got  to  hear 
about  it." 

"Served  her  right  for  not  getting  it 
through  Pureheart,"  mumbled  Steel. 

At  this  stage  of  the  conversation  I  was 
called  away  to  another  part  of  the  saloon, 
and  missed  the  remainder  of  these  interest- 
ing anecdotes. 

I  was  racking  my  brain  for  a  means  to 
prevent  Waginsky's  nefarious  trade  and  at 
the  same  time  trying  to  devise  a  suitable 
form  of  punishment  for  him,  when  a  letter 
from  Yvette  changed  my  whole  attitude  in 
this  matter.  Part  of  this  effusive  outburst 
of  gratitude  contained  the  following  pass- 
age: 


206  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"May  has  written  me  that  you  are  deter- 
mined to  exterminate  the  whole  block. 
Please  don't  kill  Madame  Coupler.  She 
tried  to  help  me,  but  she  couldn't.  Her  hus- 
band, Waginsky,  is  a  bad  man.  He's  a 
gambler,  and  often  makes  her  do  wicked 
things,  and  then  he  takes  her  money.  But 
don't  kill  them,  at  least  don't  kill  her.  Just 
threaten  them,  and  I'm  sure  they'll  be 
afraid,  and  engage  in  some  other  kind  of 
business.  They're  both  big  poltroons." 

It  was  news  to  me  that  Madame  Coupler 
was  Mrs.  Wago  Waginsky,  but  I  decided 
not  to  antagonize  Yvette's  solicitude  and 
to  put  her  advice  to  the  test.  That  evening 
I  made  use  of  a  neighboring  booth  and 
called  Madame  up. 

"Hello,  Mrs.  Waginsky,  don't  you  know 
me?" 

"No,  who  are  you  ?" 

"Your  old  ami,  Monsieur  High." 

"Oh !    I  haven't  got  a  room  for  you." 

"I  don't  want  a  room.  I  want  to  give 
you  and  your  husband  some  sound  advice. 
Now,  if  you  value  your  life,  you'd  better 
take  my  advice,  and  don't  put  the  receiver 
up,  or  warn  anyone,  till  I'm  through.  I'm 
the  man  that's  cleaning  up  your  block.  I 
took  May  and  Yvette  and  a  few  others  out 
of  your  clutches." 

"0  God,  I  knew  it." 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  207 

"No,  you  didn't.  Shut  up,  and  listen.  I 
settled  Jambon,  Rattler,  Speedway, 
Bloater,  Innocent,  Ching  Wo  Po,  Fujii,  and 
Calls.  Now  there's  only  Steel  and  Pure- 
heart  left,  and  I'm  leaving  them  for  the 
last.  You  and  your  wittol  don't  count,  be- 
cause I'll  strangle  you  both  in  bed  if  you 
don't  beat  it." 

"We'll  go,  don't  kill—" 

"Shut  up.  Before  you  go,  you've  got  to 
do  something.  Give  each  of  your  pension- 

naires  $50  and  send  them  up  to  Mrs. 's 

home,  ,  Montreal.  Then  tell  your 

wittol  to  make  a  clean  sweep  downstairs 
before  he  sells  out,  and  to  warn  his  suc- 
cessor to  run  a  clean  business,  or  I'll  slice 
him  up  into  mince-meat." 

"OLord!" 

"Shut  up!  Take  all  the  tobacco,  dope, 
home-made  candy,  the  pornographic  books 
and  photos  which  you  keep  for  sale  in  the 
back  room,  the  Aphro  stuff  with  the  ram's 
head  and  the  picture  of  the  impotent  young 
man  surrounded  by  nude  girls  in  your  win- 
dow, the  aphrodisiacal  drugs  and  appli- 
ances which  you  import  via  Holland,  the 
smutty  toys  you  get  from  Germany,  and 
pitch  the  whole  lot  into  the  furnace.  Then 
take  all  the  rubber  goods  out  of  the  win- 
dow and  put  them  where  they  belong,  in  a 
cupboard,  out  of  sight  of  the  school  kids 


208  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

who  enter  and  pass  your  store.  When  you 
have  made  it  respectable  inside  and  out, 
sell  it  to  some  decent  pharmacist,  and  you 
and  your  wittol  beat  it  to  where  you  can 
earn  a  decent  living.  Now  you'd  better 
make  things  hum,  as  I've  got  my  eye  on 
you.  Good  night !" 

When  I  returned  to  the  block,  I  made  it 
my  business  to  hang  around  Madame' s  flat, 
and  soon  discovered  an  unusual  commotion 
there.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  packing, 
and  Madame  visibly  bore  the  effects  of  my 
scare.  When  I  descended  to  the  drug-store, 
I  noticed  that  Wago  still  plied  his  tarta- 
rean  traffic  unconcerned.  Perhaps  he  had 
not  been  cautioned  or  consulted  ? 

While  I  was  still  making  my  observation, 
Steel  entered  the  store  and  was  immedi- 
ately monopolized  by  Wago.  After  a  few 
minutes  of  earnest  conference,  the  former 
hurried  up  to  Mrs.  Wago,  and  all  I  could 
gather,  when  I  followed  him,  was  that  a 
heated  discussion  was  under  way,  which, 
however,  did  not  interrupt  in  the  least  the 
preparations  for  a  general  exodus.  Madame 
was  evidently  bent  on  flight. 

As  Steel  passed  out  of  the  flat,  he  caught 
sight  of  me  sweeping  the  balcony  and  im- 
mediately accosted  me: 

"You've  got  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  to- 
night. Some  guy's  threatened  Waginsky 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  209 

and  his  wife,  and  she's  got  scared.  I'll  put 
somebody  on  to  watch  her  flat  and  the 
drug-store,  but  it  won't  do  any  harm  if 
you  keep  an  eye  on  'em  too." 

"I'll  keep  two  eyes  on  'em,"  I  replied 
boldly  and  truthfully,  for  I  had  my  own 
motives  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  dope-dis- 
penser and  his  gray  mare. 

From  about  10  P.  M.  to  midnight  I 
assisted  Madame  and  her  pensionnaires. 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  their 
plans.  Madame  was  bound  for  New  York 
to  stay  with  a  sister,  three  of  the  girls 
were  going  to  Canada  to  the  friend  of  mine 
who  had  started  a  lace  factory  for  fallen 
women,  two  had  decided  not  to  leave  Chi- 
cago, but  to  move  to  a  house  on  the  South 
Side. 

Just  before  closing  time;  and  after  Wag- 
insky  had  already  extinguished  several  of 
his  lights,  I  walked  past  his  store  and  took 
a  peep  in.  Only  two  customers  remained, 
and  they  were  smoking  at  a  table,  with 
empty  glasses  before  them.  Something 
about  their  physiognomies  attracted  my  at- 
tention. They  were  either  drunkards  or 
dope  fiends.  Wago  was  not  visible,  pre- 
sumably he  was  at  the  back  in  his  prescrip- 
tion laboratory;  his  two  assistants  had 
left,  and  a  detective  was  strolling  back  and 
forth  before  the  block. 


210  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

In  the  laboratory  was  a  door  opening  on 
to  the  basement  steps  from  which  through 
the  keyhole  one  might  obtain  a  view  of  the 
dispensers  at  work,  and,  if  the  door  were 
slightly  ajar,  also  hear  their  conversation. 
I  now  hurried  to  these  steps  by  way  of  the 
basement,  and  crawled  stealthily  up  to- 
wards the  laboratory.  Before  I  could  see 
anything,  I  could  hear  a  voice : 

"We  want  some  cocaine." 

"How  much  ?"    I  heard  Wago  enquire. 

"We  just  want  some,  to  take  home. 
Ain't  got  no  money  to-night." 

"Can't  have  it." 

"We've  got  to  have  it." 

"Nothing  doing." 

By  this  time  I  had  crept  up  several  steps, 
and  now  saw  one  of  the  men  I  had  noticed 
in  the  store  standing  before  Waginsky.  Be- 
fore the  latter  was  aware  of  his  intention 
or  able  to  utter  a  cry,  the  man  had  seized 
him  by  the  throat  and  compressed  his  wind- 
pipe. Wago  was  a  puny  specimen  of  hu- 
manity, and  did  not  even  attempt  to  shake 
his  assailant  off. 

The  man  now  whistled  to  his  companion, 
and  I  saw  the  other  enter  the  laboratory. 

"Switch  off  the  lights  in  the  store,  and 
give  me  a  package  of  that  bandage  to  gag 
him." 

The  switch-board  was  near  the  base- 


CRIMINALS    OF   CHICAGO  211 

ment  door,  and,  as  I  heard  several  clicks, 
I  presumed  the  lights  were  extinguished. 
Then  they  bound  and  gagged  their  victim, 
and  forced  him  to  a  sitting  posture  on  the 
floor. 

Now  began  their  search  for  their  favor- 
ite drug.  They  ransacked  every  shelf, 
drawer,  and  bottle,  until  at  last  I  heard 
one  exclaim : 

"I've  got  it." 

They  both  seated  themselves  near  their 
powerless  prisoner,  and  shot  the  cursed  co- 
caine into  their  veins.  As  the  drug  began 
to  show  its  effects,  their  voices  grew  louder 
and  their  demeanor  bolder. 

"Say,  Shortey,  tell  us  the  combination 
of  the  safe." 

"How  the can  he  talk  when  he's 

gagged !"  laughed  the  other. 

"Right  y'are.  We'll  make  him  write  it. 
Loosen  his  right  hand." 

They  untied  his  hand,  and  put  a  pencil 
into  it,  and  I  noticed  him  write  something 
on  a  pad  one  of  the  fiends  held  before  him. 
They  then  started  turning  the  lock  of  the 
safe,  but  they  had  either  been  given  the 
wrong  combination,  or  their  muddled  brains 
were  unable  to  operate  it  correctly,  for  all 
their  efforts  to  open  the  safe  proved  futile. 
Their  failure  exasperated  them  beyond 
control,  and  the  cocaine-mad  desperadoes 


212  CRIMINALS   OF   CHICAGO 

now  turned  their  rage  upon  the  chemist. 
One  of  them  seized  a  brass  pestle  from  a 
mortar  and  dashed  out  Waginsky's  brains. 

I  did  not  stop  to  witness  any  further 
scenes  in  this  drama,  but  rushed  up  into 
the  saloon  where  I  expected  to  find  Steel, 
and  told  him  only  that  I  had  heard  a  noise 
in  the  drug-store  and  thought  something 
was  wrong. 

He  summoned  several  of  his  myrmidons 
and  ordered  them  to  surround  the  store, 
while  I  hypocritically  warned  them  not  to 
forget  the  basement. 

The  fiends  had  not  even  taken  the  pre- 
caution to  lock  the  street  door,  and  Steel, 
followed  by  several  detectives,  had  merely 
to  walk  straight  in.  I  followed  discreetly 
in  the  rear. 

As  soon  as  I  entered,  I  heard  the  oaths 
of  the  madmen  as  they  smashed  the  bottles 
and  jars  around  them. 

Steel  stepped  boldly  forward  with  his 
revolver  in  his  hand.  The  fiends,  totally 
oblivious  to  our  approach,  continued  their 
work  of  destruction,  not  altogether  with- 
out my  approval. 

The  posse  made  a  sudden  rush,  and  the 
men,  taken  by  surprise,  were  easily  over- 
powered. 

Waginsky  lay  dead  on  his  side,  bathed 
in  a  pool  of  blood  and  covered  with  a 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  213 

shroud  of  broken  bottles  and  the  drugs 
which  had  finally  found  a  fitting  object 
for  their  effects. 

"I  wonder  if  these  are  the  nuts  that  have 
been  operating  against  us?"  queried  Steel 
pensively. 

I  did  not  proffer  an  opinion. 


214  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 


XL 

STEEL'S  STRAPPADO. 

Since  Waginsky's  death  I  had  noticed  a 
great  change  in  Steel's  costive  and  caute- 
lous  conduct.  It  was  no  longer  with  him, 
"Give  every  man  thine  ear,  but  few  thy 
voice."  One  could  say,  "What  a  spend- 
thrift is  he  of  his  tongue !"  The  arrest  of 
the  fiends  had  evidently  allayed  his  suspi- 
cions, but  enhanced  his  loneliness.  He  now 
had  time  to  perceive  that  all  his  associates 
had  dropped  away,  either  into  the  grave  or 
remoteness.  Pureheart  had  never  been  his 
intimate,  and  was  too  busy  to  console  or 
divert. 

Whenever  he  visited  the  Block,  he 
sought  my  company  and  tried  to  extract 
from  me  the  story  of  my  past.  I  spun  him 
a  yarn,  in  which  I  allowed  my  imaginative 
powers  full  play.  When  he  thought  that 
my  confessions  had  placed  me  in  his  power, 
he  rewarded  me  with  his  own  confidences, 
by  suggesting  that  I  could  make  a  pot  of 
money,  if  I  cared  to  fill  one  of  the  posts  left 
vacant  by  the  recent  deaths. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  215 

"The  only  thing  I'm  fit  for  is  to  run  the 
saloon,"  I  suggested.  "But  I've  got  no 
money." 

"We'll  fix  that.  You  can  pay  me  out  of 
the  profits." 

"How  about  Rattler?"  I  queried  inno- 
cently. 

He  could  not  hide  his  embarrassment  for 
several  seconds. 

"To  tell  the  truth,"  he  said  at  last,  "Rat- 
tler told  me  he  was  tired  of  the  job,  and 
if  I  could  get  some  one  else  to  run  the 
place,  he  wouldn't  come  back." 

"All  right  then.  We'll  talk  it  over,  but 
you'd  better  get  a  new  janitor  first.  The 
basement  makes  me  sick,  and  heaving  coal 
don't  help  my  arm  any." 

"I'll  get  one  to-morrow." 

"Then,  if  you  don't  mind  advancing  me 
a  few  dollars,  so's  I  can  go  on  the  bum  for 
a  week  or  so,  and  get  well,  I'll  be  much 
obliged." 

"How  much?" 

"Well,  say  $50." 

He  told  the  bar-tender  to  give  me  the 
money. 

"Have  a  drink  on  it,  while  we  write  a 
contract." 

I  noticed  that  he  now  sought  every  pre- 
text for  a  drink,  whereas  formerly,  though 
a  hard  drinker,  he  would  never  allow  him- 
self to  be  drawn  into  a  drinking  bout. 


216  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

I  had  demanded  the  vacation  not  princi- 
pally for  the  sake  of  my  health,  but  be- 
cause I  wished  to  have  leisure  to  track  my 
employer,  and  to  bring  matters  to  a  head 
with  Pureheart.  I  hoped  to  be  able  to  do 
this  before  the  time  arrived  when  I  should 
have  to  take  charge  of  the  saloon,  more 
mephitic  than  the  basement  to  my  consti- 
tution. 

I  have  always  fled  happiness,  since  ex- 
perience taught  me  that  its  quest  brought 
me  only  misery.  If  I  had  to  choose  a  voca- 
tion with  an  eye  to  the  minimum  of  felic- 
ity it  could  impart,  I  would  choose  the  one 
least  repulsive  to  my  nature. 

"They  are  happy  men  whose  natures 
sort  with  their  vocations." 

The  first  act  of  my  holiday  was  to  hire 
the  most  powerful  motor-cycle  I  could  find, 
and  fly  out  of  the  city,  until  I  was  sure 
that  I  was  not  being  shadowed.  Then  I 
returned  as  near  as  it  was  prudent  to  the 
Block,  and  waited  for  Steel  to  pass  in  his 
racer.  He  usually  drove  up  to  the  limit, 
and  since  my  advent,  had  been  on  the  alert 
to  see  whether  he  was  followed.  I  trusted 
to  his  present  unsuspicious,  inebrious 
mood,  and  my  distance  five  blocks  away,  to 
allay  his  habitual  vigilance. 

I  waited  patiently  for  at  least  an  hour 
before  he  whirled  past  me  in  his  green 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  217 

car.  Then  I  sprang  into  the  seat  and  be- 
gan to  track  him,  allowing  several  other 
machines  to  intervene  between  us.  I  had 
not  troubled  to  disguise  myself,  as  I  had 
decided  that,  if  he  recognized  me,  I  would 
not  attempt  any  subterfuge,  but  would  ac- 
cost him  with  the  plausible  remark  that  I 
was  going  into  the  country. 

We  threaded  our  way  along  Sheridan 
Road  at  top  speed,  and  I  often  had  diffi- 
culty to  keep  him  in  sight  as  he  dashed 
past  the  advance  cars  whenever  opportun- 
ity offered. 

We  were  soon  in  Evanston,  and  I  had  to 
increase  the  distance  between  us,  as  he 
had  left  the  main  artery,  and  there  were 
no  machines  between  us.  The  road  was 
dark  and  badly  paved,  and  the  houses  sep- 
arated by  long  stretches  of  field  or  garden. 

Suddenly  he  stopped,  and  at  the  same 
instant  I  halted  my  cycle  and  switched  off 
the  light.  As  he  did  not  continue  his 
route,  I  drew  my  machine  into  the  long 
grass  at  the  side  of  the  road,  laid  it  flat, 
and  started  to  crawl  forward  on  my  hands 
and  toes  in  scout  fashion. 

How  often  have  I  reconnoitered  or 
trailed  man  and  beast  in  this  wise,  some- 
times on  my  hands  and  knees,  at  other 
times  flat  on  my  stomach,  wriggling  for- 
ward like  a  serpent !  The  sensation  brought 


218  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

back  to  me  tender  memories  of  koodoo 
stalking  and  Boer  ferreting  on  the  sere 
Karoo  and  through  serried  kopjes. 

When  I  arrived  opposite  the  car,  I  no- 
ticed that  it  was  drawn  up  at  the  side  of 
the  road,  and  Steel  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 
There  were  no  houses  near,  at  least  I  could 
not  discover  the  outlines  of  any  in  the  dark, 
but  I  made  out  several  clumps  of  trees  and 
patches  of  shrubbery  a  little  to  my  left.  I 
worked  my  way  towards  these,  so  as  to  ap- 
proach them  from  the  opposite  direction. 
My  progress  was  necessarily  slow,  as  the 
night  was  dark  and  cloudy,  and  I  was  not 
certain  that  this  was  not  a  trap  set  for  my 
own  destruction. 

As  soon  as  I  began  to  hear  voices,  I 
stopped  and  listened. 

"Is  this  why  you  sent  for  me?"  I  heard 
Steel  say  in  angry  tones. 

"Isn't  it  sufficient  reason  ?"  came  the  re- 
ply in  a  sweet,  plaintive,  girlish  voice.  "I'm 
going  to  be  a  mother,  Ted,  and  I  don't  want 
to  be  a  mother  without  a  husband.  You 
promised  to  marry  me  before  I  yielded  to 
you,  and  we  can't  put  it  off  any  longer,  if 
you  wish  to  save  our  honor." 

"You  can  go  to  a  doctor,"  was  the  surly 
rejoinder. 

"Go  to  a  doctor !  I  don't  know  what  you 
mean.  I  don't  know  any  doctors,  and  I'd 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  219 

be  afraid  to  go  to  a  stranger,  and  it's  dan- 
gerous. Besides,  why  should  I  go?  Don't 
you  want  to  marry  me  any  more,  Ted  ?" 

"You  can  go  to  your  father,  he's  a  spe- 
cialist in  this  line." 

"My  father!  Are  you  crazy,  Ted?  Go 
to  my  father,  and  tell  him  of  my  —  of  my 
— !  No.  I'd  rather  die." 

"You  can  disguise  yourself,  so  he  won't 
know  you." 

There  was  a  long  silence  before  the  sad, 
resigned  voice  spoke  again: 

"Ted,  you  haven't  answered  me.  Won't 
you  marry  me?" 

The  answer  was  sharp  and  brutal : 

"You  may  as  well  know  now  as  later, 
Julia.  You're  not  the  kind  of  wife  for  me." 

"O  my  God!" 

The  cry  was  low  and  heartrending,  then 
she  crashed  to  the  grass. 

I  heard  hurried  footsteps,  and  a  few  mo- 
ments after  the  snort  of  his  machine  as  it 
flung  itself  away  into  the  dolorous  night. 

Casting  prudence  to  the  winds,  I  crept 
hastily  forward  until  I  reached  the  pros- 
trate form  of  a  girl.  At  first  I  thought 
she  was  dead,  and  a  sudden  desire  to  follow 
and  fire  made  my  veins  swell.  But  then  I 
noticed  the  beating  of  her  heart,  and  after 
I  had  torn  open  her  corset  and  induced  her 
respiration,  she  began  to  moan,  and  gradu- 
ally came  to  her  senses. 


220  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"Don't  be  afraid,  Miss.  I  was  passing, 
and  saw  you  lying  here.  Tell  me  where 
you  live,  and  I'll  help  you  home." 

"No,  I'm  afraid  to  go  home.  0  God,  what 
will  become  of  me?" 

Then  she  arrested  herself  in  sudden  self- 
possession. 

"What  am  I  talking  about  ?  I  must  have 
fainted." 

She  tried  to  rise,  but  her  limbs  refused 
to  raise  her.  She  passed  her  hands  over 
her  loosened  dress  and  corset,  and  I  has- 
tened to  explain: 

"I  unbuttoned  your  clothes  to  give  you 
air.  While  I  go  for  my  cycle,  you  take  off 
your  corset  and  fasten  your  skirt  and 
blouse.  Then  I'll  put  you  on  behind  me  and 
take  you  home." 

To  spare  her  further  embarrassment  or 
reply,  I  hurried  away  for  my  machine. 
When  I  returned,  she  had  arranged  her  at- 
tire and  was  able  to  stand. 

"I  think  I'll  walk  if  you'll  help  me.  I 
don't  want  anyone  to  see  me,  and  I'd  be  so 
conspicuous  on  your  motor-cycle." 

"We'll  ride  till  we  get  near  the  houses," 
I  suggested.  "Then  you  may  get  off  and 
walk.  But  can't  we  go  to  a  garage  where 
I  can  leave  the  wheel?  Then  I  can  take 
you  to  your  home." 

She  thought  for  a  moment  before  she  re- 
plied : 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  221 

"You  are  very  kind,  Sir.  Your  voice 
makes  me  trust  you,  though  I  can't  see 
your  face.  I'm  sure  you  don't  mean  to 
harm  me." 

"If  I  thought  you  could  walk  home,  I 
wouldn't  press  my  assistance  upon  you," 
I  replied  gently.  "But  if  you  will  tell  me 
where  your  friends  or  relatives  live,  I'll  go 
and  tell  them,  and  they  can  come  and  fetch 
you." 

"Oh,  no,  Sir,  not  that,"  she  answered 
apologetically.  "I  shouldn't  like  any  one  to 
know.  I  didn't  mean  you  to  think  that  I 
can't  trust  you.  I  believe  you,  I'm  sure 
you're  a  gentleman,  and  I'll  go  with  you,  if 
you'll  help  me  now." 

"Well,  do  you  know  a  garage  that  we 
can  reach  without  being  seen  ?  You  can  get 
off  near  it,  I'll  store  the  wheel,  and  hurry 
back  to  you  and  help  you  home." 

"Yes,  Sir,  I  think  I  know  a  place." 

"Then  come  along." 

I  helped  her  on  to  the  hind  seat,  then  I 
straddled  into  the  saddle,  and,  as  we  spun 
along,  she  directed  my  course.  After  I  had 
stored  the  wheel,  we  strode  along  in  si- 
lence, arm  in  arm.  When  we  passed  a 
street  lamp,  she  averted  her  face,  either 
from  me  or  from  the  passers-by.  At  last 
she  stopped. 

"This  is  my  home,  Sir,"  she  said  point- 


222  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

ing  to  a  bungalow  half  hidden  behind  an  or- 
chard. "I  don't  know  how  to  thank  you. 
I'm  in  great  trouble  now,  but  if  I  can  get 
over  it,  I  shall  always  remember  your  kind- 
ness. Won't  you  please  give  me  your  name 
and  address.  Sir?" 

"If  you  want  my  name  and  address  to 
thank  or  reward  me,  I  assure  you  that  I 
have  received  all  the  thanks  and  reward  I 
merit.  If  you  require  my  help,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  tell  you  my  name.  Can  I  help  you  ?" 

She  did  not  answer  me  at  once,  then  she 
replied  sadly: 

"You  can  not  help  me,  Sir." 

"Are  you  quite  sure?" 

"I  am  quite  sure,  Sir.  If  I  thought  you 
could,  I  trust  you  sufficient  to  ask  you." 

"Then  will  you  do  me  one  favor  before 
I  go?" 

"I  will  do  anything  for  you,  Sir." 

"Let  me  look  at  your  face." 

"It  is  not  worthy,"  she  replied  in  modest 
distress. 

I  took  her  arm  again  and  led  her  towards 
the  lamp  that  stood  at  the  corner  of  the 
garden.  When  she  stood  beneath  the  light, 
I  turned  towards  her,  and  looked  into  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  faces  that  I  have 
ever  seen  in  America.  Her  eyes  were  down- 
cast, and  I  did  not  see  their  violet  depths 
until  she  turned  them  full  upon  me  as  I 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  223 

said,  Good-by.  But  the  brilliant  black  of 
her  lashes  and  uncovered  hair,  reposing  in 
striking  contrast  on  the  snow-like  white- 
ness of  her  Grecian  features  and  brow, 
drew  a  gasp  of  wonder  and  admiration 
from  me. 

I  held  out  my  hand  and  stuttered : 

"May  God  guard  you !    I'll  go  now." 

She  raised  her  eye-lids  and  looked  into 
mine: 

"Must  you  go  now,  Sir  ?"  she  said  plain- 
tively. 

"I  will  stay,  if  you  wish,  and  if  I  can  help 
you." 

She  placed  her  hand  in  mine,  and  as  I 
pressed  it,  she  said  hardly  above  a  whis- 
per: 

"Good-by,  Sir.  It  is  better  that  you 
should  go.  You  can't  help  me.  I  shall 
never  forget  your  kindness." 

She  withdrew  her  hand,  and  walked 
slowly,  with  bent  head,  towards  the  garden 
gate.  I  waited  for  her  to  disappear,  then 
I  approached  the  entrance  to  take  a  last 
glance  at  the  spot  where  that  beautiful  vi- 
sion had  vanished  from  my  wistful  sight.  I 
looked  into  the  semi-obscurity,  my  eyes 
widened  and  my  heart  ceased  to  beat.  On 
the  gatepost  was  a  white  enamel  plate  and 
in  black  letters  I  read  the  name  of  the  oc- 
cupants. 


224  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

When  I  recovered  from  my  brain  storm, 
I  crossed  the  street  and  dropped  into  the 
long  grass,  determined  to  keep  this  abode 
under  surveillance  for  that  night  at  least. 
I  was  fascinated  by  the  marvellous  grace 
of  the  girl.  To  me  "The  beauty  of  a  lovely 
woman  is  like  music."  I  wondered  how  she 
could  have  given  herself  to  Steel,  until  I  re- 
membered the  theory  of  contrasts.  Then 
how  could  he,  however  heartless  a  brute  he 
might  be,  desert  her  as  he  had  done  this 
night,  and  abandon  her  to  shame?  The 
deep  meaning  of  Byron's  lines :  "Thou  who 
hast  the  fatal  gift  of  beauty"  flashed  me 
illumination. 

I  desired  also  to  learn  whether  Steel 
would  make  any  move  here,  and  the  name 
on  the  gate  awakened  in  me  an  intense  in- 
terest in  the  other  members  of  that  house- 
hold. 

I  had  watched  for  over  an  hour,  when  I 
saw  a  dark  figure  coming  down  the  walk 
from  the  bungalow  to  the  gate.  Before  she 
pulled  the  latch,  she  looked  all  around, 
either  in  expectation  of  some  one,  or  to  see 
whether  the  coast  was  clear.  Then  she 
stepped  out  on  to  the  side-walk,  and 
walked  briskly  towards  the  more  populous 
part  of  the  town. 

I  followed  as  rapidly  as  I  could  and  had 
time  and  opportunity  to  examine  her 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  225 

make-up,  for  I  was  convinced  that  she  was 
trying  to  hide  her  face  and  figure.  She 
wore  heavy  widow's  weeds,  so  opaque  and 
dropping  so  perfectly  around  her  whole 
head  to  her  waist,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
make  out  anything  behind  her  veil.  Her 
dress,  or  rather  dresses,  for  she  must  have 
had  several  on,  were  loose  and  ill-fitting, 
and  completely  obliterated  all  her  natural 
lines.  As  she  hurried  along,  she  glanced 
around  at  intervals  to  see  whether  she  was 
followed,  but  I  kept  out  of  sight  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  road. 

I  tracked  this  strange  female  thus  to  the 
Elevated,  and,  in  my  anxiety  to  keep  out 
of  view,  almost  missed  the  train  which  she 
took.  She  alighted  in  the  city  and  boarded 
a  street-car.  I  hid  myself  on  the  rear  plat- 
form, and  we  travelled  on  the  same  cars 
until  I  saw  her  descend  in  front  of  my 
Block. 

Mirabile  dictw! 

She  looked  up  at  the  windows,  then 
around  suspiciously,  as  if  in  doubt  as  to  her 
next  move.  If  I  had  not  tracked  her,  I 
should  have  accosted  her  and  offered  my 
assistance,  but  now  it  was  in  my  interest 
to  remain  at  a  distance.  Suddenly  she  made 
up  her  mind  and  stepped  into  the  hall 
which  led  to  the  second  floor.  I  dashed 
through  the  chop  suey  to  the  back  en- 


226  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

trance,  then  up  to  the  balcony  from  where 
I  could  see  the  whole  length  of  the  passage 
which  led  to  the  different  second  floor  flats. 
She  stopped  at  the  end,  before  Pureheart's 
door.  I  did  not  wait  to  see  whether  she 
entered,  but  rushed  up  to  the  loft  and  to 
Pureheart's  periscope. 

In  my  impetuosity  to  spy,  I  failed  to 
heed  whether  I  was  spied  upon,  and  this 
inexcusable  imprudence  almost  proved  my 
undoing. 

It  was  almost  midnight,  the  hour  when 
Pureheart  usually  left  in  his  machine  for 
home.  He  was  already  dressed  for  his  de- 
parture, and  stood  before  the  strange  fe- 
male reading  a  typewritten  page.  When 
he  had  finished,  he  laid  it  on  the  table  and 
addressed  her: 

"My  dear  lady,  it  is  very  late,  and  I'm 
afraid  I  can  do  nothing  for  you  to-night. 
My  assistant  has  left,  and  if  an  operation 
is  necessary,  you  will  have  to  stay  here; 
you  won't  be  able  to  move  for  several 
hours." 

She  held  out  a  roll  of  banknotes  to  him. 
He  took  them  and  laid  them  on  the  table 
before  the  typewritten  sheet. 

"I  may  have  to  give  you  some  anaesthetic, 
and  then  it  would  be  necessary  to  see  your 
face,  and  how  can  I  do  that  if  you  keep  that 
heavy  veil  on  and  do  not  desire  me  to  see 
you?" 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  227 

She  shook  her  head  violently. 

"Then  how  can  I  examine  you  and  oper- 
ate on  you  with  all  those  clothes  on  ?" 

She  nodded  to  assure  him  that  he  could. 

"If  you  have  to  stay  here  all  the  night, 
you'll  have  to  stay  alone,  as  I  must  leave 
immediately." 

She  gesticulated  her  assent. 

"Very  well,  then.  We'll  go  into  the  next 
room." 

She  rose  immediately.  He  took  off  his 
hat  and  coat,  rolled  up  his  sleeves  and  pre- 
ceded her  into  the  operating  theatre.  They 
disappeared  from  my  vision. 

A  thousand  conflicting  emotions  and 
ideas  passed  through  my  being.  I  had  al- 
ready made  up  my  mind  to  threaten  Pure- 
heart  with  immediate  exposure,  unless  he 
desisted  prostituting  his  profession.  If  ne- 
cessary, I  was  prepared  to  mete  out  a  just 
punishment.  Now  was  the  fitting  oppor- 
tunity. 

But  should  I  give  him  time  to  save  that 
girl,  for  I  was  now  convinced  that  it  was 
Julia,  from  terrestrial  shame?  My  con- 
science taught  me  that  a  mortal  sin  was 
about  to  be  committed.  In  a  society  organ- 
ized on  divine  principles,  the  fruit  of  the 
womb,  conceived  out  of  wedlock  but  under 
promise  of  marriage,  instead  of  being  the 
object  of  satanic  scorn  would  meet  with 


228  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

Christ-like  commiseration.  But  what  would 
be  her  fate  with  a  fatherless  child  in  our 
present  stygian  civilization?  I  shuddered 
at  the  thought. 

Then,  was  the  progeny  of  that  Hell's 
hound  fit  for  life,  worthy  of  its  mother? 
Should  I  compel  him  to  marry  her  and  fet- 
ter her  for  life  with  that  infernal  scoun- 
drel, and  thus  undo  the  toils  which  I  was 
weaving  around  him  ? 

I  could  not  decide,  I  could  only  act. 

Feverishly  I  donned  the  disguise  in 
which  I  had  frustrated  Jambon's  career, 
and  slid  down  to  the  balcony.  It  was  a 
close,  dark  night,  and  most  of  the  windows 
in  the  building  were  open.  I  lifted  the  mos- 
quito screen  and  climbed  into  Pureheart's 
office.  Then  I  drew  down  the  shades. 

The  banknotes  and  the  typwritten  sheet 
still  lay  on  the  table.  I  took  the  letter  and 
read: 

"I  am  a  dumb  girl,  betrayed  by  a  wicked 
man.  You  can  save  me.  I  will  pay  you  well. 
Do  not  ask  me  my  name  or  force  me  to  show 
my  face.  Let  me  go  away  unknown  and  un- 
seen, only  save  me  from  everlasting  shame." 

Steel's  suggestion  had  borne  fruit.  I 
marvelled  only  at  the  courage  of  the  girl 
to  carry  through  the  plan,  and  then  to  suf- 
fer its  execution  in  silence. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  229 

I  still  held  the  paper  in  my  hand,  ab- 
sorbed in  thought,  when  Pureheart  re- 
turned. 

He  looked  at  me  as  if  doubting  his  vision, 
raised  his  hand  to  his  brow,  and  sank  into 
a  seat. 

"I  am  an  old  friend  of  yours,  my  dear 
doctor,  and  have  now  called  upon  you  to 
enlist  your  services  again,  but  this  time 
not  for  others,  for  yourself." 

"I  knew  it  was  a  trap,"  I  heard  him  mut- 
ter. 

I  seized  at  the  suggestion. 
"Yes,  the  corpus  delicti  is  in  the  next 
room,  but  without  her  I  have  sufficient  evi- 
dence to  send  you  to  the  chair.     Shall  I 
enumerate?" 

His  head  sank  on  to  the  table,  but  he 
raised  his  hand,  as  if  supplicating  me  to 
desist. 

I  waited  for  him  to  speak.  At  last  I 
heard  his  voice,  as  if  addressing  himself, 
while  he  still  kept  his  face  buried  in  one 
hand  on  the  table. 

"I  am  not  afraid  of  the  chair  or  the  gal- 
lows, and  I'm  tired  of  this  double  life.  For 
her  sake  I  must  quit  without  exposure.  To 
her  I  have  always  been  the  kind  father,  the 
honorable  citizen,  the  famous  surgeon,  and 
I  have  tried  to  bring  her  up  as  the  child  of 
such  a  man.  She  must  never  know.  I  must 


230  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

quit  now,  and  leave  her  an  honorable  name. 
She  is  beautiful,  wealthy,  talented;  the 
world  is  before  her,  and  she  will  marry 
some  clean  man,  and  live  her  life  in  ignor- 
ance of  my  past.  I  have  guarded  her 
against  all  the  vanity  and  vices  of  this  city, 
and  she  has  grown  up  as  virtuous  and  mod- 
est and  frank  and  generous  as  an  angel. 
Yes,  I  must  quit,  before  I  bring  shame  on 
her,  my  precious  child !" 

He  rose  from  the  chair,  and  without  giv- 
ing me  a  look,  walked  deliberately  towards 
his  medicine  closet,  opened  the  door,  and 
chose  one  of  the  bottles  labelled  Prussic 
Acid,  and  a  conical  measuring  glass,  from 
among  those  which  littered  the  shelves. 

I  stepped  towards  him,  and  immediately 
and  simultaneously  I  felt  a  bullet  graze  my 
head  and  heard  an  explosion  and  a  crash. 
I  flung  myself  past  the  doctor,  as  the 
hydrocyanic  slipped  from  his  grasp,  and 
glided  into  a  closet  in  the  adjoining  room. 

Startled  by  the  noise,  the  strange  woman 
ran  into  the  doctor's  room,  and  a  moment 
after  Steel  rushed  in,  shouting:  . 

"Where's  he?  It's  the  janitor.  Damn 
him !  I  must  have  missed.  I  found  all  his 
infernal  machinery  over  the  ceiling.  I  saw 
him  come  down,  and  went  up  to  see  what 
he  had  been  doing." 

I  could  discern  his  savage  and  deter- 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  231 

mined  countenance  through  the  chink  of 
the  closet  door,  and  thrust  my  revolver  for- 
ward automatically  as  if  to  meet  his  attack. 

He  looked  at  the  veiled  figure  suspi- 
ciously, and,  walking  up  to  her,  snatched 
the  weeds  from  her  face.  As  soon  as  he 
caught  sight  of  those  beautiful,  pale  fea- 
tures, I  heard  him  gasp  in  amazement: 
"Julia !"  and  saw  him  stagger  back.  At  the 
same  time  the  doctor  uttered  a  cry  of  woe : 
"My  daughter!"  and  ran  towards  the  tot- 
tering girl. 

"Yes,  father,  your  daughter;  and  he's 
the  man  that  ruined  me." 

Then  she  sank  to  the  floor. 

Pureheart  looked  for  a  moment  at  the 
partner  of  his  foul  commerce  and  now  the 
desecrator  of  his  cherished  idol,  then  he 
seized  a  chair,  and  bounded  towards  him. 

Steel  raised  his  revolver,  but  before  he 
could  fire  I  drew  my  trigger,  and  sent  a 
bullet  through  his  hand.  His  weapon 
dropped,  and  he  wheeled  towards  me. 

I  now  stood  in  full  view  before  them,  and, 
as  he  recognized  me,  he  sprang  forward, 
shouting : 

"You  damned ,  I'll  have  you  yet !" 

T  laughed  out  loud,  and  sent  another  bul- 
let crashing  into  his  knee.  He  dropped  on 
his  face  before  he  could  reach  me,  and  I 
immediately  pounced  on  his  back  and 


232  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

twisted  an  electric  wire,  that  I  snatched 
from  a  pedestal  lamp,  round  his  hands  and 
feet.  Then  I  rolled  him  on  to  his  back, 
and  he  gave  one  shout  for  help  before  I 
struck  him  in  the  mouth  with  the  butt  of 
my  weapon  and  knocked  out  several  of  his 
teeth.  The  blood  burst  from  his  mouth 
and  ran  over  the  tiled  floor  to  mingle  with 
the  pools  from  his  hand  and  knee. 

All  this  time  the  doctor  was  trying  to 
strike  him  with  the  chair,  but  I  held  him 
back  or  interjected  myself  between  them. 

"We've  got  him  now,  Doc.  He  won't  get 
away.  I'll  leave  him  here  with  you,  and 
you  can  do  what  you  like  with  him.  Take 
this  as  a  warning  for  yourself.  If  it  wasn't 
for  your  daughter,  I'd  feel  inclined  to  send 
you  both  to  Kingdom  Come  together.  Now 
you'd  better  look  after  her  first,  or  she 
may  bleed  to  death." 

My  advice  seemed  to  direct  his  attention 
from  his  avidity  for  vengeance  to  the  grav- 
ity of  his  own  child's  condition.  He  turned 
towards  her,  lifted  her  tenderly  on  to  a 
couch,  examined  and  tended  her,  while  ex- 
pressions of  paternal  condonation  and  in- 
tense grief  escaped  his  lips. 

In  the  mean  time  I  laughed  into  Steel's 
glaring  eyes  and  listened  to  his  curses, 
which  were,  however,  not  loud  enough  to 
attract  outside  help. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  233 

"If  you  shout,  I'll  batter  your  whole  face 
to  bits.  You've  got  me  now,  right  enough, 
but  on  your  chest.  I  expect  it  feels  like  a 
nightmare.  I  wonder  what  Pureheart'll 
do  with  you?  I  don't  envy  you  your  fate, 
anyway.  If  he  lets  you  go,  I'll  have  to  hurry 
you  to  the  gallows  for  sending  Calls  to 
sleep,  singeing  your  child,  and  soaking 
Rattler,  not  to  mention  any  other  of  your 
peccadillos. 

"If  you  live,  life  won't  be  worth  living, 
because  I'm  going  to  send  Bloater's  mort- 
gage to  his  bank  to-night,  and  tell  them  to 
foreclose  at  once,  and  I  wonder  how  you'll 
explain  your  contract  with  Speedway  ? 

"What  do  you  think  of  my  periscopes? 
You  must  admit  I  aimed  them  truer  than 
you  did  your  six-shooter  through  my  peri- 
scope hole.  You  should  have  waited  till 
you  got  next  to  me,  then  you  would  have 
had  me  right  enough,  for  I  shouldn't  have 
known  that  you'd  found  me  out.  But 
you've  got  me  now,  any  way,  on  your 
chest,  so  what's  the  difference? 

"By  the  way,  Stoneheart,  that  contract 
about  running  Rattler's  saloon  is  off.  There 
won't  be  any  saloon  when  the  Bloaters 
foieclose,  and  fish  your  cousin  out  of  his 
vat.  Besides,  I'm  going  to  take  a  fresh  air 
and  fresh  water  cure  after  this,  and  try 
and  get  this  wound  in  my  armpit  healed. 


234  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

You  didn't  know  that  one  of  your  sleuths 
bored  it  there.  But  I  gave  him  a  decent 
burial  in  the  Lake.  You'll  meet  him  soon." 

I  was  interrupted  in  my  raillery  by  the 
doctor : 

"Now  I'll  settle  my  account  with  this  in- 
fernal scoundrel." 

"The  pot  calling  the  kettle  black,"  I  sug- 
gested mildly.  "But  I'll  get  off  his  chest 
and  surrender  my  booty  to  you.  I  didn't 
intend  to  do  the  killing  if  I  could  shift  it 
on  to  someone  else." 

The  surgeon  was  too  bent  on  his  purpose 
to  hear  my  words,  and  immediately  started 
to  drag  the  detective  into  his  operating 
theatre.  I  followed,  an  interested  spec- 
tator. 

In  the  theatre,  hanging  over  the  operat- 
ing table,  was  a  fall  and  tackle,  which  the 
doctor  used  for  raising  patients  or  for 
swinging  them  on  and  off  a  couch.  He  now 
lowered  the  rope  and  belt  to  the  floor,  and 
in  true  hangman  like  fashion  buckled  the 
latter  round  Steel's  throat.  I  watched  him 
in  approving  admiration.  He  then  caught 
the  end  of  the  rope  and  tugged  it  viciously, 
gradually  raising  his  former  confederate 
till  his  head  almost  touched  the  ceiling. 

His  eyes  and  tongue  bulged  out  of  his 
head,  a  horrible  spectre,  and  his  face  was 
almost  as  red  as  the  blood  that  dripped 
from  his  feet. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  235 

I  thought  that  his  executioner  would  al- 
low him  to  hang,  and  die  from  strangula- 
tion. But  no !  That  would  not  satisfy  his 
retaliatory  rancor.  He  seized  a  wire  that 
was  attached  to  the  topmost  pulley,  and 
the  half-dead  devil  dropped  to  the  floor 
with  a  thud. 

Thus  he  hanged  him  and  dropped  him 
half  a  dozen  times,  until  he  was  satisfied 
that  he  could  not  inflict  any  further  tor- 
ture. Then  he  looked  at  me  with  sunken 
eyes. 

"Fine  work,  Doc.  Jack  Ketch  couldn't 
do  it  better.  I'll  give  you  a  chance  to  turn 
over  a  new  leaf  for  that  job.  Now  what 
are  you  going  to  do  with  him  ?" 

"Let  the  hound  hang  till  I  take  my 
daughter  home  where  she  can  get  proper 
care.  Her  life's  worth  more  to  me  than  the 
disposition  of  this  carcass." 

"Dangerous  decision,  Doc,  very  danger- 
ous ;  but  it's  none  of  my  business.  I'll  take 
off  this  rig,  and  help  you  take  her  home." 


236  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

XII. 
PUREHEART'S  PUTREFACTION. 

The  bungalow  at  Evanston  was  inhabited 
by  Pureheart,  his  daughter,  and  an  old  ne- 
gress,  who  had  taken  the  place  of  Julia's 
mother,  dead  since  Julia  was  barely  a  few 
months  old,  according  to  the  surgeon's  ver- 
sion. 

I  helped  Maria  to  put  her  charge  to  bed, 
as  Pureheart  was  seized  by  a  sudden  dizzi- 
ness, and  the  negress  had  become  so  hys- 
terical at  sight  of  her  sick  mistress  that 
she  was  also  practically  helpless. 

"You  thought  I  could  not  help  you,"  I 
said  jokingly  to  the  beautiful  girl.  I  had 
had  a  good  hot  bath,  massage,  shampoo, 
and  manicure,  and  had  rubbed  a  bottle  of 
eau  de  cologne  into  my  skin  to  get  rid  of 
the  saloon  reek,  and  I  was  not  altogether 
unconscious  of  the  fact  that  she  was  look- 
ing at  me  in  the  light  of  a  hero,  and  of  a 
man  of  not  uninteresting  appearance.  Al- 
though I  can  be  callous  on  occasion  towards 
women,  yet  I  have  also  felt  "the  sweetest 
joy,  the  wildest  woe/'  and  am  not  immune 
to  the  darts  of  the  gentler  sex. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  237 

"You  can  help  me  only  to  have  faith  in 
a  man  again,  but  you  cannot  help  me  to 
live.  I  feel  that  I  am  not  going  to  stay 
here  long.  If  I  had  listened  to  you  when 
you  offered  me  your  help  before,  perhaps 
you  would  have  saved  me  from  the  terrible 
sin  I  have  committed  and  forced  my  father 
to  commit.  I  know  I  must  die  for  that  sin, 
and  perhaps  by  my  death  I  shall  atone  for 
it.  Don't  you  think  so?" 

"I  am  quite  certain  that  your  sin  will  be 
forgiven,"  I  replied  conscientiously. 

"I  am  sure  you  wouldn't  tell  me  a  false- 
hood. Won't  you  come  closer  to  me  and 
let  me  take  your  hand?" 

I  drew  my  chair  to  her  bedside.  She 
took  my  hand  and  caressed  it  gently. 

"I'm  not  ashamed  to  tell  you.  I  am  go- 
ing to  die,  and  I  want  to  tell  the  truth  now. 
I  wanted  a  man  to  love  so  much.  It  was 
something  in  me,  and  when  he  told  me  that 
he  loved  me,  I  thought  I  loved  him.  But 
he  awed  me,  and  I  was  afraid  of  him.  He 
was  so  commanding  and  brusque  that  I  had 
to  submit.  He  didn't  tell  me  that  his  name 
was  Steel.  He  called  himself  Edward  En- 
glewood,  and  said  he  was  a  medical  student. 
I  hadn't  seen  him  for  months  until  to- 
night. 

"But  I  don't  mind  now.  It  brought 
you  to  me,  and  now  I  know  what  it  is  to 


238  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

love  a  man.  Don't  be  shocked,  and  do  let 
me  believe  that  you  return  my  love,  be- 
cause I'll  be  gone  soon,  and  you  won't  have 
done  any  harm.  I  don't  want  to  die  with- 
out having  loved  someone,  and  been  loved 
in  return.  He  never  loved  me.  He  never 
kissed  me,  and  I  never  kissed  him.  And  I 
never  held  his  hand  as  I  am  holding  yours. 
Won't  you  kiss  me  ?  Bend  your  head  close 
to  mine,  and  let  me  kiss  you.  I  don't  want 
to  die  without  love,  and  if  you  will  only  let 
me  love  you,  I  shall  die  happy." 

Her  beauty  and  ingenuousness  were  irre- 
sistible. Still  I  would  not  dally  with  this 
dying  girl  merely  to  appease  her  thirst  for 
affection,  if  I  could  not  also  honorably  per- 
mit her  embraces.  I  kissed  her  as  a  man 
would  kiss  his  dying  sister,  and  because  I 
believed  with  her  that  she  was  close  to  the 
Valley  of  the  Shadows.  I  accepted  and  re- 
turned her  sororal  caresses  with  the  sanc- 
tity which  the  approach  of  death  sanc- 
tioned. And  if  she  could  have  diagnosed 
her  own  feelings  then,  she  would  have  rec- 
ognised that  they  were  not  sexual  but  sis- 
terly. Pureheart  and  the  negress  were 
present  during  this  sad  scene,  and  I  thus 
felt  an  added  absolution  for  my  fall  from 
asceticism. 

"I  think  I'll  give  you  a  sleeping  draught, 
dear,"  the  doctor  suggested,  as  soon  as  he 
had  recovered  from  his  weakness. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  239 

"No,  father,  I  don't  want  to  sleep,  I  want 
to  remain  awake  with  him  so  long  as  I  have 
to  live,"  and  she  gave  me  a  lingering  look 
of  tenderness. 

"I  think  you  had  better  take  it,"  I  tried 
to  persuade  her.  "A  little  sleep  will  do  you 
good." 

"If  you  say  so,  I'll  take,  it,  but  I'd  much 
rather  remain  awake  with  you.  You  won't 
leave  me,  will  you  ?"  she  added  with  a  touch 
of  fear  in  her  voice. 

"I  will  not  leave  you,"  I  affirmed  convinc- 
ingly. 

As  soon  as  she  was  asleep,  the  surgeon 
and  I  went  into  the  adjoining  room,  where 
he  threw  himself  languidly  on  to  a  couch 
and  began  to  reproach  himself  bitterly  for 
his  act. 

"This  has  come  to  me  as  a  punishment. 
I  have  thrived  on  hacking  others,  and  now 
I  have  hacked  my  own  child  to  death.  I 
thought  that  I  had  guarded  her  against  all 
that  I  have  led  others  into;  but  the  devil 
elected  my  own  trusted  accomplice  to  frus- 
trate all  my  precautions,  and  my  own 
hands  were  chosen  as  the  instruments  of 
vengeance. 

"If  I  could  only  have  resisted  the  obses- 
sion of  the  knife!  But  my  skill  mastered 
me.  I  gloried  in  my  ability  to  rob  the  womb 
of  its  fruit,  the  ovary  of  its  seed,  the 


240  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

female  of  her  fruitfulness,  and,  if  oppor- 
tunity to  practise  my  art  did  not  come  to 
me  along  the  channels  of  my  profession, 
the  fiends  of  hell  drove  me  to  create  oppor- 
tunities." 

"It  is  not  too  late  to  apply  your  methods 
legally,"  I  interrupted.  "Since  the  passage 
of  laws  providing  for  the  sterilization  of 
criminals,  634  insane  and  1  criminal  have 
been  operated  upon  in  California,  21  insane 
in  Connecticut,  and  24  feeble-minded  in 
Wisconsin.  No  attempt  is  being  made, 
however,  to  enforce  any  of  the  laws  provid- 
ing for  the  sterilization  of  criminals  except 
in  Washington,  where  the  law  is  punitive. 

"The  method  of  selecting  persons  to  be 
operated  upon  and  the  mode  of  procedure 
is  as  follows : 

"In  Iowa  the  superintendent  of  any  state 
hospital  for  the  insane  and  a  majority  of 
the  medical  staff  must  agree,  after  investi- 
gation and  examination,  that  the  operation 
would  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the  pa- 
tient and  society,  before  they  can  author- 
ize its  performance  on  the  patient,  and 
they  cannot  without  the  written  con- 
sent of  the  husband  or  the  wife,  if  the 
patient  is  married,  or,  if  unmarried,  of  the 
parent  or  guardian,  and  they  also  must 
have  the  approval  of  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  state  board  of  control. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  241 

"In  Nebraska  the  board  of  commission- 
ers of  state  institutions  is  required  to  ap- 
point a  board  of  examiners  of  five  physi- 
cians from  the  medical  staffs  of  the  insti- 
tutions under  their  control.  They  decide 
that  if  the  inmate  is  capable  of  bearing  off- 
spring, the  children  born  would  inherit  a 
tendency  to  feeble-mindedness,  insanity,  or 
degeneracy,  and  that  such  children  would 
probably  become  a  social  menace ;  that  pro- 
creation by  such  inmate  would  be  harmful 
to  society,  and  that  such  inmate  should  not 
be  paroled  or  discharged  unless  sterilized. 

"Criminals  are  not  mentioned  in  either 
of  these  statutes. 

"You  see  how  illogical  you  Americans 
are.  You  sterilize  lunatics  and  allow  crim- 
inals to  propagate.  What  is  the  difference 
between  the  two  ?  If  criminals  are  not  lun- 
atics, they  are  worse.  Then  lunatics  are 
usually  under  surveillance,  and  their  op- 
portunities for  bearing  offspring  are  lim- 
ited. Criminals,  on  the  contrary,  when  at 
large,  have  every  opportunity  to  procreate. 

"Here  is  your  chance  to  preach  and 
practise  the  sterilization  of  criminals." 

I  was  talking  more  to  give  him  a  differ- 
ent outlook  on  life  than  because  I  was  con- 
vinced by  the  force  of  my  own  arguments, 
and  I  noticed  that  my  words  interested 
him. 


242  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"Then  you  have  another  legitimate  field 
for  the  application  of  your  knowledge, — 
the  field  of  birth  control.  Your  former 
president  will  one  day  lose  his  sway  over 
the  minds  of  his  countrymen,  when  the  ex- 
perience of  his  ancestral  land,  Holland,  has 
had  time  to  permeate  their  Dutch  phlegm, 
and  you  can  help  to  hasten  that  day.  Listen 
to  this: 

BIRTH  CONTROL  IN  EUROPE. 

After  years  of  prosecuting  men  and  women 
engaged  in  the  propaganda  for  birth  control 
the  British  ^government  finally  appointed  a 
commission  of  distinguished  physicians,  clergy- 
men and  others,  to  look  into  the  matter.  At 
one  of  the  hearings  Dr.  C.  V.  Drysdale,  secre- 
tary of  the  Malthusian  league,  told  what  gov- 
ernment approval  did  for  birth  control  in 
Holland.  In  1885  a  Dutch  branch  of  the  league 
was  established,  and  ten  years  later  it  was 
recognized  by  a  royal  decree  as  a  society  of 
public  utility. 

With  the  aid  of  a  corps  of  physicians  and 
trained  midwives  work  was  begun  among  the 
poor  in  every  city  of  the  kingdom.  People  in 
remote  districts  communicated  through  the 
mails.  Pamphlets  giving  instructions  were  sent 
in  reply.  Assurance  had  to  be  given  that  the 
enquirer  was  married  or  about  to  be. 

The  result  of  this  has  been,  so  Dr.  Drysdale 
assured  the  commission,  that  the  excessive  birth 
rate  had  been  diminished  on  eugenic  lines, 
bringing  with  it  a  considerable  rise  in  wages 
and  general  prosperity.  Amsterdam  and  The 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  243 

Hague  had  become  the  healthiest  large  cities 
in  the  world  according  to  government  statistics. 
While  the  birth  rate  had  decreased  among  the 
poor,  the  increase  in  population  in  general  is 
now  the  highest  in  Western  Europe,  and  the 
stature  of  the  people  has  increased  four  inches 
within  the  last  half  century. 

Dr.  Drysdale  asserted  that  the  increase  in 
Great  Britain's  population  is  diminishing,  not 
because  of  a  decline  in  the  birth  rate,  but  be- 
cause of  the  policy  of  suppressing  information 
about  birth  control  from  the  poor,  and  taxing 
the  middle  and  upper  classes  to  support  the 
large  families  of  the  less  fit,  thus  leading  those 
two  classes  to  practice  more  largely  family 
limitation. . . . 

Advanced  thinkers  now  recognize  that  in- 
crease in  population  depends  upon  the  power  of 
supporting  rather  than  creating  new  people, 
and  that  the  increase  of  a  country's  population 
has  no  relation  to  its  birth  rate.  No  matter 
how  much  an  increase  of  population  is  needed, 
it  will  not  come  by  an  increase  in  the  birth 
rate,  but  by  an  added  production  of  the  country. 
Great  Britain  has  at  last  begun  to  see  the 
truth  of  this,  and  the  testimony  before  the 
commission  proved  that  it  was  a  problem  for 
the  upper  classes  who  had  to  bear  the  burden 
of  supporting  the  increase  of  the  unfit,  and, 
in  defence,  set  about  limiting  the  increase  in 
their  own  classes.  A  distinguished  physician's 
opinion  was  that  as  soon  as  this  economic  pres- 
sure was  removed  from  the  well-to-do,  there 

v  ould  be  an  increase  in  their  families. — Chicago 

Tribune. 


244  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

I  was  here  interrupted  by  the  telephone 
bell,  which  the  surgeon  proceeded  to  an- 
swer. I  noticed  that  the  message  agitated 
him  to  an  extreme  degree,  and  before 
hanging  up  the  receiver  I  heard  him  say : 

"I'll  come  right  away." 

Then  turning  to  me  he  added: 

"I  must  go  to  Chicago  at  once.  I  hope 
this  will  be  my  last  call  from  the  devil. 
Stay  with  her.  When  I  get  back,  I'll  take 
her  to  Canada,  and  if  she  lives,  I'll  never 
return." 

"While  you're  there,  Doc,  don't  forget  to 
get  rid  of  Steel.  I  don't  feel  easy  with  that 
carcass  dangling  over  your  operating 
table." 

"What'llldowithit?" 

"Nobody  lives  on  the  second  floor  now. 
Drag  him  next  to  Rattler's  bedroom. 
There's  a  dumb-waiter  that  goes  right 
through  to  the  saloon  cellar.  Lower  him 
down  that,  and,  when  they  find  him  and 
Rattler  in  the  vat,  they'll  think  anybody 
except  you  did  it.  Take  this  master-key, 
I  don't  expect  I'll  ever  require  it  again." 

"I'll  do  it.  Look  after  her.  I'll  be  back 
before  morning." 

It  was  between  three  and  four  in  the 
morning  when  he  left  Evanston.  Julia  was 
asleep,  and  the  negress  sat  on  the  rug  and 
moaned  somnolently. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  245 

In  the  meantime,  events  that  bore  the 
closest  relation  to  this  story  were  happen- 
ing in  an  apartment  on  Grand  Boulevard. 

A  beautiful  woman,  about  thirty-three 
years  of  age,  bearing  a  recommendation 
from  the  British  consul,  had  presented  her- 
self at  a  certain  police  station,  and  de- 
manded assistance  to  search  the  Grand 
Boulevard  apartment,  where,  she  said,  her 
daughter,  fifteen  years  of  age,  was  being 
held  for  immoral  purposes.  She  had  come 
from  Montreal,  and  as  I  discovered  later, 
through  the  papers,  was  a  close  friend  of 
the  lady  to  whom  I  had  sent  several  of  Ma- 
dame Coupler's  pensionnaires.  Through 
one  of  these  girls  she  had  heard  of  the  ab- 
duction of  her  daughter,  and  that  she  was 
being  held  a  close  prisoner,  and  without  the 
happy  coincidence  mentioned,  would  prob- 
ably never  have  been  able  to  communicate 
with  her  mother,  until  she  was  utterly 
ruined. 

The  police  were  not  over  anxious  to  help 
the  fair  stranger.  The  house  in  question 
was  in  Steel's  precinct  and  had  been  im- 
mune from  police  interference  for  many 
years.  But  Steel  had  not  reported,  and 
the  woman  was  insistent,  and  would  not  be 
put  off  till  Steel  could  be  located.  In  fact, 
she  threatened  to  report  the  matter  to  the 
British  Ambassador. 


246  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

At  this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  one  of 
Steel's  rivals  appeared  on  the  scene,  and 
volunteered  to  make  the  raid. 

"Lay  off,  or  you'll  go  to  the  tall  timbers," 
whispered  several  of  his  colleagues,  but  he 
could  not  be  cowed. 

He  now  stood  in  the  hall,  with  the  Cana- 
dian lady  behind  him,  and  several  secret 
service  men,  whom  he  had  collected  from 
other  districts,  were  waiting  his  signal  to 
rush  the  place. 

The  procuress  stood  before  him,  haught- 
ily indignant : 

"Roll  your  hoop,  young  man,  the  plain 
clothes  men  have  been  wearing  out  sole 
leather  trying  to  get  something  on  this 
place,  and  a  common  harness  bull  like  you 
cannot  consider  yourself  in  their  class.  If 
you  annoy  me  again,  I'll  have  you  trans- 
ferred." 

"If  you  don't  let  me  search  the  place," 
retorted  the  detective  prudently,  "I've  got 
the  men  ready  to  raid  you,  and  I'll  do  it." 

The  conciliatrix  was  evidently  impressed 
by  his  determined  manner. 

"Will  you  let  me  ring  up  my  friends  ?" 

"Go  ahead,  but  I  want  to  hear  what  you 
say." 

She  tried  to  get  in  touch  with  Steel, 
then  with  several  men  who  "stood  well  at 
the  city  hall,"  and  finally  she  rang  up  Pure- 
heart,  as  already  described. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  247 

"Will  you  wait  till  my  friend  comes? 
Perhaps  he'll  be  able  to  convince  you  to 
leave  this  house  alone." 

"I'll  wait  for  him,  because  I'd  like  to 
make  his  acquaintance ;  but  nothing  he  can 
•say  will  prevent  my  making  a  thorough 
search  of  this  house." 

In  the  interval  before  Pureheart's  ar- 
rival, the  bawd  suggested  every  conceiv- 
able pretext  to  leave  the  room;  but  the 
sleuth  warned  her  that  the  slightest  at- 
tempt to  communicate  with  the  other  in- 
mates of  the  place  would  result  in  an  im- 
mediate raid. 

At  last  Pureheart  was  ushered  into  the 
parlor,  looking  pale  and  careworn  from  his 
recent  experiences.  As  soon  as  the  Cana- 
dian saw  him,  she  started  and  uttered  a 
low  cry.  The  surgeon  looked  at  her  a  mo- 
ment in  doubt,  then  he  staggered,  reeled, 
and  fell  heavily  to  the  floor.  The  bawd 
screamed  and  rushed  to  the  door,  but  the 
detective  intercepted  her. 

"No  you  don't.    Stay  here !" 

Then  turning  to  his  companion,  he  en- 
quired : 

"Do  you  know  him  ?" 

"That's  my  husband.  My  daughter  came 
to  Chicago  to  look  for  him.  His  name  is 
Herbert  Hazeldon — " 

"No,   it  isn't,"   interrupted  the  bawd. 


248  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"That's  Dr.  Pureheart,  the  famous  sur- 
geon, and  if  he  hadn't  fainted,  he'd  have 
got  rid  of  you  both  pretty  quick." 

"I  don't  care  what  he  calls  himself  here," 
retorted  the  Canadian,  "Pureheart  may  be 
his  right  name.  I'm  quite  sure  he  changed 
his  name,  but  he  married  me  under  the 
name  of  Herbert  Hazeldon  seventeen  years 
ago,  and  he  may  have  called  himself  Pure- 
heart  to  hide  his  foul  heart  from  the  world. 
He  abandoned  me  to  poverty  sixteen  years 
ago,  leaving  me  enceinte  with  our  second 
child  whom  I  am  sure  you  are  holding  here, 
and  taking  our  first  daughter  with  him. 
He  tried  to  perform  an  illegal  operation  on 
me  before  I  had  my  second  child;  he  said 
he  didn't  want  any  children,  and,  when  I 
objected,  he  threatened  to  kill  me,  and  dis- 
appeared in  the  night. 

"I  always  thought  he  was  in  Chicago, 
because  he  got  letters  from  there;  but  I 
made  up  my  mind  never  to  look  for  him. 
My  second  child  said  she  would  find  him 
and  make  him  support  us,  and  that's  what 
she  was  here  for,  when  she  fell  into  your 
clutches." 

"There's  no  girl  here  called  Hazeldon," 
contended  the  woman. 

"Her  name's  Julia,  the  same  as  my  first 
child,"  replied  the  Canadian.  "At  home 
she  is  Julia  Jovanne,  my  maiden  name,  but 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  249 

here  she  called  herself  Jeanne  Johnson,  and 
the  girl  who  saw  her  in  this  house  told 
me  that  she  is  known  here  as  Jeanne  John- 
son." 

"Is  Jeanne  Johnson  here?"  demanded 
the  detective  gruffly. 

The  woman  hesitated. 

"I'll  soon  find  out,"  he  said  sharply,  and 
without  further  ado  he  approached  the 
open  window  and  blew  three  shrill  blasts 
on  his  whistle. 

The  woman  began  to  scream  wildly, 
there  was  the  crash  of  breaking  panes,  the 
thud  and  slam  of  opening  and  closing 
doors,  the  tramp  of  heavy  feet,  the  clamor 
of  rapid  orders,  female  shrieks  and  male 
shouts,  then  the  blows  of  bloody  fists  and 
breaking  furniture,  mingled  with  oaths 
and  groans,  and  soon  a  medley  of  half- 
dressed  men  and  women  were  filed  out  into 
the  patrol  wagons. 

"There's  a  gal  all  by  herself  in  one 
of  the  rooms,"  reported  one  of  the 
raiders  to  his  chief.  "She  looks  sick  and 
asked  me  to  save  her,  said  she  didn't  belong 
here,  and  they  kept  her  a  prisoner." 

"Come  with  me,  Mrs.  Hazeldon,"  the 
chief  said  gently  to  the  Canadian,  "but 
please  try  and  control  yourself."  Then, 
turning  to  one  of  his  men,  he  added :  "Take 
'em  all  to  the  station,  but  leave  Pureheart 


250  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

here.  Try  and  bring  him  round  soon  as 
possible.  Get  a  doctor  and  an  ambulance." 

Accompanied  by  Mrs.  Hazeldon  (or 
Pureheart),  he  then  followed  his  assistant 
into  the  room  where  the  girl  lay. 

What  need  to  describe  the  meeting  be- 
tween mother  and  daughter?  As  soon  as 
the  latter  could  speak  coherently,  she  told 
how  she  had  been  inveigled  into  this  Adam 
and  Eve  Club,  as  it  was  called.  She  had  an- 
swered an  advertisement:  "Furnished 
Room  for  a  Single  Girl/'  and  been  directed 
to  this  address  by  the  proprietress,  who 
told  her  that  her  own  house  was  full.  Once 
in  the  toils  of  the  procuress,  she  was  com- 
pelled to  suffer  every  indignity,  withstand 
every  temptation,  repulse  every  attempt  on 
her  virtue,  until  finally  they  had  forcibly 
performed  an  operation  on  her,  which  later 
diagnosis  showed  to  be  ovariotomy,  and 
now  she  was  barely  convalescent,  but  still 
as  undefiled  as  when  she  had  left  her 
mother's  house. 

"How's  Pureheart?"  here  enquired  the 
chief.  "I'd  like  this  girl  to  see  him." 

"He's  still  a  bit  dazed,  but  he  can  walk." 

"Bring  him  in  then." 

The  surgeon  was  assisted  into  the  cham- 
ber by  a  doctor  and  a  detective.  As  soon 
as  the  girl  saw  him,  she  cried : 

"He  did  it,  that's  him." 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  251 

"I  guessed  so/'  said  the  chief,  evidently 
pleased  with  his  acumen  and  the  results  of 
his  raid. 

Pureheart  looked  at  the  girl  in  the  bed, 
and  the  sight  seemed  to  recall  the  preca- 
rious condition  of  his  other  child,  for  he 
whined  feebly: 

"Take  me  to  my  daughter,  she's  dying, 
and  I  must  save  her." 

"That's  your  daughter,"  replied  the 
chief  pointing  to  the  girl. 

Pureheart  looked  from  one  to  the  other 
perplexed. 

"I  mean  Julia/'  he  said  at  last. 

"That's  Julia." 

But  the  truth  would  not  dawn  upon  the 
surgeon's  deranged  brain. 

"Perhaps  his  other  daughter  is  dying," 
finally  suggested  the  chief.  "Does  anyone 
know  where  his  office  is  ?" 

"Ya,"  volunteered  one  of  his  men. 

"We'll  go  and  see  if  we  can't  find  some- 
thing interesting  there  too.  Take  him  to 
the  station,  and  hold  him  there  till  I  get 
back.  Take  Mrs.  Hazeldon  and  her  daugh- 
ter to  the  hospital,  and  see  that  they  get 
all  they  want." 

Thus  it  was  that  my  plan  to  remove 
Steel's  body  was  never  consummated,  and 
while  this  ghastly  discovery  was  spurring 
the  detective  on  to  extend  his  triumphs  to 
Evanston,  Julia  lay  in  my  arms  dying. 


252  CRDflXALS  OF  CHICAGO 

"You  don't  know  how  happy  I  am  to  die 
like  this.  If  my  mother  was  alive  and  here, 
I  don't  think  I  could  love  her  more  than  I 
love  you.  I  wish  father  would  return  soon, 
Fd  like  to  say  Good-by  to  him.  ni  soon  see 
mother,  and  Til  tell  her  all  about  you,  and 
vou'll  come  to  me,  one  day,  won't  you, 
love?" 

Thus  she  rambled  on,  until  the  detec- 
tive's arrival  interrupted  her  reveries. 

I  met  him  at  the  door,  told  him  simply 
that  the  girl  was  dying,  that  I  was  her 
friend,  entreated  him  to  defer  his  duties 
whatever  they  were  till  she  was  laid  at  rest. 
My  earnest  appeal  impressed  him,  he  told 
me  hurriedly  the  story  of  the  girl's  mother, 
without,  however,  mentioning  the  discov- 
ery of  Steel's  body,  and  I  begged  him  to 
send  for  Mrs.  Hazeldon,  while  he  and  his 
men  remained  in  charge  of  the  premises, 
if  he  deemed  it  necessary. 

He  readily  acquiesced,  but  wished  the 
doctor  who  accompanied  him  to  see  Julia. 
I  led  him  and  the  doctor  into  the  sick  cham- 
ber with  the  understanding  that  they  were 
not  to  tell  Julia  anything  about  her  father, 
and  that  I  would  tell  her  that  her  father 
had  sent  two  doctors  to  attend  her,  as  he 
would  be  delayed  for  several  hours. 

While  Mrs.  Hazeldon  was  hurrying  to- 
wards her  first-born  and  first-dead  the 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  253 

state  doctor  was  tactfully  notating  data 
that  Julia  was  dying  from  internal  hemor- 
rhage caused  by  an  illegal  operation.  His 
diagnosis  did  not  leave  me  above  suspicion, 
as  I  readily  perceived ;  but  I  trusted  to  my 
intelligence  to  afford  me  the  opportunity 
of  disassociating  myself  from  this  concat- 
enation of  crimes  as  soon  as  I  had  fulfilled 
my  pledge  to  Julia  to  remain  with  her  till 
the  end. 

Before  Mrs.  Hazeldon  arrived,  I  broke 
the  news  as  gently  as  I  could.  I  told  her 
that  her  father  had  just  discovered  that 
her  mother  was  alive,  and  was  sending  her 
to  her  bedside.  But  the  dying  girl  was  too 
near  the  grave  and  too  wholly  absorbed  in 
her  infatuation  for  my  unworthy  self  to  be 
additionally  moved. 

When  her  mother  arrived,  I  prompted 
her  as  I  had  done  the  detectives,  and  then 
admitted  her  to  the  room. 

Mother  and  daughter  looked  at  each 
other  in  silence,  the  former's  eyes  were 
filled  with  tears;  but  Julia's  had  merely  a 
look  of  curiosity  and  compassion  in  their 
violet  depths.  At  last  she  said  simply : 

"Don't  weep,  mother,  come  and  sit  by  me 
and  kiss  me.  This  is  my  love.  When  I'm 
gone,  he'll  take  my  place,  he'll  be  a  son  to 
you  as  I  would  have  been  a  daughter.  You 
will,  won't  you  ?"  she  enquired,  turning  her 
beautiful  face  towards  me. 


254  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

I  nodded  assent. 

"I  wish  father  would  hurry  back.  I  don't 
want  to  go  without  seeing  him,  but  you'll 
tell  him,  mother,  won't  you,  not  to  fret? 
He's  got  you  now,  and  you'll  console  each 
other.  Perhaps  if  you  had  found  us  be- 
fore, then  this  would  not  have  happened  to 
me,  but  then  I  wouldn't  have  found  you, 
love — I  feel  so  weak,  I  can't  hold  my  head 
up  any  more." 

Her  head  sank  back  on  to  the  pillow. 

"Bend  your  head  near  to  mine,"  she 
whispered. 

I  laid  my  head  on  the  pillow  next  to  hers. 
Mrs.  Hazeldon  clasped  her  hands  in  mute 
anguish,  while  Julia  turned  her  face  to- 
wards mine  and  feebly  laid  her  hand  on  my 
cheek.  She  smiled  and  I  barely  heard  her 
words : 

"I'm  going,  love.  I'm —  Good — "  and 
her  eyes  closed. 

When  the  doctor  declared  she  was  dead, 
I  tenderly  removed  the  cold  hand  from  my 
face,  and  rose  from  the  bed.  I  had  faith- 
fully fulfilled  my  word,  and,  although  I 
should  have  desired  to  bear  this  innocent 
corpse  to  its  earthly  shell  and  to  remain 
with  her  mother,  I  knew  that  I  should  be 
called  upon  to  offer  explanations  that 
would  not  be  conducive  to  my  own  safety 
or  to  that  of  Pureheart.  I  accordingly 
sought  for  immediate  means  of  escape. 


CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO  255 

"I  must  send  some  wires  to  her  friends," 
I  said  sorrowfully,  for  my  sorrow  was  real, 
though  my  excuse  invented. 

The  detective  did  not  offer  any  overt  op- 
position, but  I  noticed,  after  I  left  the 
house,  that  I  was  being  shadowed.  I  did 
not  wish  to  risk  arrest  by  attempting  to 
return  to  Chicago,  for  I  did  not  know  what 
the  man's  orders  might  be. 

It  was  about  five  in  the  morning,  and 
very  few  people  were  about.  I  took  a 
direction  which  I  thought  would  lead  me 
away  from  any  pedestrians,  and,  as  soon 
as  I  noticed  that  no  one  was  in  sight,  I 
wheeled  suddenly,  as  if  about  to  retrace  my 
steps,  and  walked  towards  my  shadower. 
He  came  on,  trying  to  look  as  indifferent  as 
possible;  for  to  stop  would  have  laid  him 
open  to  suspicion.  I  did  not  look  at  him 
either,  but  beyond,  and  once  I  looked  be- 
hind me,  but  casually,  to  see  whether  there 
were  going  to  be  any  witnesses  to  my  ex- 
ploit. In  the  far  distance  I  could  make  out 
approaching  figures,  but  they  were  too  far 
away  to  affect  my  purpose.  As  I  passed 
the  unprepared  man,  he  did  not  even  deign 
to  give  me  a  glance,  so  anxious  was  he  to 
aupear  unconcerned.  I  struck  him  a  ter- 
rible blow  behind  the  right  ear  and  dropped 
him. 

Then  I  walked  coolly  into  the  country, 


256  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

and  hid  in  the  grass  till  nightfall,  when  I 
walked  back  to  Chicago. 

I  followed  Pureheart's  trial  through  the 
papers.  He  was  charged  with  the  murder 
of  Steel  and  of  his  daughter,  and  with  per- 
forming an  illegal  operation  on  his  second 
daughter  and  on  numerous  other  women, 
besides  being  a  partner  in  several  houses 
of  ill-fame. 

Many  facts  new  to  me  were  elicited  dur- 
ing his  trial. 

"If  I  killed  him,"  he  pleaded,  "he  de- 
served death.  He  betrayed  an  innocent 
girl,  and  I  was  justified  by  the  natural 
law." 

"An  unnatural  father,  an  unnatural  hus- 
band, and  unnatural  man,  has  no  right  to 
appeal  to  the  natural  law,"  retorted  the 
public  prosecutor. 

"Since  when  have  you  become  the  pro- 
tagonist of  innocence  and  virtue?  Only 
since  your  own  daughter  fell  a  victim  to 
your  vile  practice.  If  your  paternal  in- 
stincts had  not  revolted,  you  would  never 
have  admitted  the  evil  of  your  ways. 

"Don't  you  think  the  fathers  of  all  the 
girls  you  initiated  into  your  Adam  and  Eve 
Club  had  similar  feelings  and  in  a  thou- 
sand degrees  more  pure,  because  they  had 
not  become  degenerated  by  the  practice  of 
betrayal  ? 


257 

"Then  if  Steel  were  the  father  of  her 
child,  you  could  have  forced  him  to  marry 
her,  instead  of  resorting  to  abortion." 

"If  I  had  known  she  was  my  own 
daughter,  I  would  not  have  done  it." 

The  prosecutor  broke  into  contemptuous 
laughter.  • 

"Didn't  you  know  your  own  wife,  when 
you  tried  the  same  on  her  ?  Not  know  your 
own  daughter?  And  you  had  her  on  your 
operating  table !" 

"She  wore  a  thick  veil,  and  brought  me 
a  note.  She  pretended  to  be  dumb,  till  her 
betrayer  entered  the  room." 

"Incredible !  Such  a  defence  is  merely  a 
cloak  to  hide  the  shame  you  know  that  a 
father  ought  to  feel  towards  his  own 
daughter.  You  performed  hundreds  of 
abortions  on  other  girls.  How  is  it  you 
never  advised  those  girls  to  compel  the 
fathers  of  their  children  to  marry  them? 
Why  did  you  not  hesitate  when  you  forc- 
ibly performed  that  vile  operation  on  your 
second  daughter? 

"You  have  tried  to  rob  vice  of  its  effects, 
to  increase  its  pleasures  and  decrease  its 
pains.  You  have  therefore  appl1'^  yo"1* 
science  exclusively  to  the  female  sex;  and 
not  because  ovariotomy  is  voluntary,  and 
vasectomy  involuntary. 

"Your  excuse  that  you  were  trying  to 


258  CRIMINALS  OF  CHICAGO 

prevent  over-population  is  as  false  as  your 
others.  You  set  up  as  a  specialist  to  cure 
barren  women,  and  to  produce  male  or  fe- 
male children  at  will.  Your  only  remedy 
was  to  introduce  those  married  women  to 
members  of  your  Adam  and  Eve  Club,  as 
you  initiated  into  the  same  hot-bed  of  vi- 
cious corruption  the  young  girls  that  came 
under  your  baneful  practice. 

"The  performances  of  your  Adam  and 
Eve  Club  give  you  the  lie.  It  was  not  a 
club  to  restrict  birth,  but  to  increase  the 
opportunities  for  vice,  and  if  children  could 
have  been  brought  into  the  world  without 
fear  of  detection,  or  hampering  the  oppor- 
tunities for  the  uncontrolled  enjoyment  of 
vice,  we  should  hear  nothing  about  over- 
population." 

The  jury,  without  retiring,  returned  a 
verdict  of  guilty. 

And  now,  gentle  reader,  I  must  bid  you 
farewell.  We  have  waded  together 
through  the  lugubrious,  lascivious,  and 
lawless  labyrinths  of  a  modern  Babylon. 
The  experience  to  me  has  been  detestable. 
To  you  I  hope  it  has  attached  a  share  of 
responsibility,  for  "Responsibility  prevents 
crime,"  says  Burke.  When  I  return  to 
America  again,  may  it  be  my  lot  to  lead 
you  along  pleasanter  paths. 
FINIS. 


°>^ 

&M 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


